“On the heels of Kayo Dot’s 2016 album Plastic House on Base of Sky, New York City based avant-garde musician TOBY DRIVER sustains his inexhaustible output with a solo album titled Madonnawhore.
After exploring a retro-futurist noir sound on Kayo Dot’s 2014 album Coffins on Io then delving even further into electronic music with Plastic House on Base of Sky, Driver was eager to write a different kind of song. Madonnawhore represents a foray into traditional songwriting, stripped of the progressive flourishes and unpredictability of Kayo Dot. These six austere tracks were recorded as a solo effort; they are sparse and atmospheric, evoking empty spaces and the beauty sometimes inherent in death. They occupy a heretofore unexplored place in Driver’s oeuvre, further demonstrating his immeasurable talent.
Although not a concept album, Madonnawhore is united by its exploration of the “madonna-whore complex,” a psychological neurosis first identified by Sigmund Freud whereby a man feels he can only love a woman who maintains a saint-like purity, but desires to be intimate with someone he considers to be debased.”
Track Listing
01. The Scarlet Whore – Her Dealings With The Initiate
02. Avignon
03. The Deepest Hole
04. Parsifal
05. Craven’s Dawn
06. Boys On The Hill