Cross Record – God Fax

Cross Record — the project of UK-based artist Emily Cross — presents the new single/video “God Fax,” from her new album Crush Me, out March 21st via Ba Da Bing Records.

On the heels of lead single “Charred Glass,” “God Fax” is a slow-moving panic attack: shallow breaths in and out frame a guttural cacophony like a wooden freighter encountering increasingly turbulent waters while autotune renders the vocals emotionless. Cross luxuriates in the chaotic and unpredictable, singing “And I am calm in the absence of reason / And now, that walks alongside me.” Recalling the song’s creation, she says: “Theo [Karon] came to me with the idea for this song and I kept saying ‘Okay we’ll try, but I might scrap it at any time’ right up until the end. I was asked to breathe in and out (kind of gasping) rhythmically and with different pitches until I almost passed out. I showed it to one of my friends when the rough version was done and he seemed scared of it, which to me was a positive sign.”

Crush Me is Cross Record’s first album in six years. It’s a profound statement which explores how we handle the weights we carry. Themes of abandonment, surrender, and disarray followed the creation of the album, with recording sessions resulting in fragmented work, label interest declining, and collaborators disappearing. In a twist of fate, however,  the record was rescued by long-time friend and supporter Ben Goldberg at Ba Da Bing Records who was eager to help realize the project. Cross worked for months on the album, all the while nursing a pregnancy and continuing her full-time funeral work. The last minute participation of Seth Manchester of Machines with Magnets, who mixed and mastered, was an essential liferaft. He gave true final form to the abstracted songs. Vocals, guitars, and keyboards float above, as drums and upright bass (often bowed) lurch beneath. Crush Me has the effect of a spell being cast, with songs balancing heaviness and levity.

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