Love Spirals Downwards were a Dream Pop duo from California. It consisted of Ryan Lum and then girlfriend Suzanne Perry. Although they never achieved commercial success, their cult following for their first two studio albums: Idylls (1992) and Ardor (1994) have gained them an audience. Later on in the duo's existence, they focused more on Electronica experimentation, which some people argue is either better or worse than their original sound. They split in 1999 as Lum and Perry's relationship was souring.
Their original sound is quite unique, even for Dream Pop. The vocals are a strange combination of Enya and Liz Frasier from Cocteau Twins. The music sounds like a mix between My Bloody Valentine and Dead Can Dance. It's definitely out there, but still awesome.
They are sometimes mistaken as a New Age band, and while their music (as stated above) has some New Age qualities, it's mostly Dream Pop. Oh, and Perry's voice is one of the prettiest voices out there.
Love Spirals Downwards contains examples of the following tropes:
- Dream Pop — Their original sound when they started.
- Electronic Music — They changed to Drum and Bass for their last two albums.
- Indecipherable Lyrics — To the point where you think they're singing in a different language. All it takes is Google to clear up that doubt, though.
- Melismatic Vocals — Perry loved this type of singing.
- New Sound Album — 1996's Ever introduced them into the Electronica sound.
- Soprano and Gravel — Crossed over into this every now and then.
