Frontiers Music Srl is excited to announce the release of progressive metal act Lalu‘s first studio album in 9 years “Paint The Sky” on January 21, 2022. Lalu is a musical project originally founded in 2004 by the French composer and producer Vivien Lalu. “Paint The Sky” will be the first album, and third album overall from the band, released under the new partnership between Vivien and Frontiers. Fans can get their first taste of music from the new album with the release of the single and video, “The Chosen Ones” featuring Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater) and Simone Mularoni (DGM). Watch the official music video through the YouTube player below:
“Paint The Sky” is easily the most accomplished and mature album put together by Vivien thus far in his career. He spent a lot of time laying down the basics for the new effort and along with this new album comes a change in vocalist specifically designed for this more progressive version of Lalu. In May 2020, Vivien announced Damian Wilson (Arena, Headspace, Threshold) as the lead vocalist for “Paint The Sky.” Lalu‘s lineup on the album is rounded out by Jelly Cardarelli (on drums) and Joop Wolters (guitars and bass).
Guests on the album include Alessandro Del Vecchio, Alex Argento, Gary Wehrkamp, Jens Johansson, Jordan Rudess, Marco Sfogli, Simon Phillips, Simone Mularoni, Steve Walsh, Tony Franklin, and Vikram Shankar.
It is easily the most accomplished and mature album put together by Vivien thus far in his career. Being the son of two progressive musicians from the ’70s and growing up surrounded by progressive music, Vivien always wanted to craft a true-to-its-roots Progressive Rock album. He spent a lot of time laying down the basics for the new effort and along with this new album comes a change in vocalist specifically designed for this more progressive version of Lalu.
In May 2020, Vivien announced Damian Wilson (Arena, Headspace, Threshold) as the lead vocalist for “Paint The Sky.” Lalu‘s lineup on the album is rounded out by Jelly Caldarelli (on drums) and Joop Wolters (guitars and bass). More special guests will be announced in the coming months, so be sure to follow Lalu‘s social media to stay up-to-date.
Lalu‘s first full-length album, “Oniric Metal” garnered critical acclaim upon its release, including being named Album of the Month’ in Rock Hard Magazine, and marked a new chapter for Vivien and his insatiable need to create mind-expanding, cinematic music. After collaborating with Shadow Gallery on “Digital Ghosts,” working with Lazlo Jones on his debut album, and the original soundtrack of Warner Bros. movie “Seuls Two,” Lalu finally settled in and began work on the second Lalu opus, “Atomic Ark.” Handling all composition and songwriting duties, as well as all keyboards, Lalu weaved the cloth of the new album together with vocalist Martin LeMar, bassist Mike LePond (Symphony X), guitarist Simone Mularoni (DGM), and world class drummer Virgil Donati (Planet X, Steve Vai, Allan Holdsworth).
The album was produced by Vivien in his own studio and mixed at Boumbox Studio in Paris by Yan Memmi (Dio ‘Lock Up The Wolves’). Additional contributions came from Jens Johansson (Stratovarius), Joop Wolters, Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater), Marco Sfogli (James LaBrie), Mike Andersson (Cloudscape) and Peter Wildoer (James LaBrie). The final product, boasting over fifty minutes of exceptional, massive cinematic, atmospheric metal was dubbed “Atomic Ark.” The album was released worldwide in 2013.
Spring 2014 saw Vivien venturing out on a unique live tour, hosting only a few select shows featuring the all-star Atomic Ark line-up of Martin LeMar, Mike LePond, Simone Mularoni, and Virgil Donati, adding Joop Wolters as a second guitarist on stage. After a few weeks’ practice, the tour culminated in the live recording of their set during the final stop. Produced by Vivien and mixed and mastered by Simone Mularoni at Domination Studio, the digital only “Live at P60” was released in June 2015.
Tracklist:
01. Reset To Preset
02. Won’t Rest Until The Heat Of The Earth Burns The Soles Of Our Feet Down To The Bone
03. Emotionalised
04. Paint The Sky
05. Witness To The World
06. Lost In Conversation
07. Standing At The Gates Of Hell
08. The Chosen Ones
09. Sweet Asylum
10. We Are Strong
11. All Of The Lights
12. Paint The Sky [Instrumental]
Lineup:
Damian Wilson / Vocals
Jelly Cardarelli / Drums
Joop Wolters / Guitars & bass
Vivien Lalu / Keyboards
