Betty Black

“Don’t fool yourself, girl, you can never be together…he was born wild, you’re made of lace, he’s leather…how quickly lighting strikes than it’s out like bad weather.”

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, BETTY BLACK (aka singer/songwriter SYLVIA GORDON) returns with her new single “BAD WEATHER” (the title track from her forthcoming EP, slated for release in April). Produced by Gordon and acclaimed mix engineer/producer Rudyard Lee Cullers (Yeah Yeah Yeahs/Basement Jaxx/Sounds/Bright Eyes), the cautionary tale of love, carnal desire and obsession captures the intense yearnings of star-crossed lovers destined to crash and burn.

Ms. Black proves to be a compelling character in her songs, which are often dark, earnest, melodic, and intentionally rough around the edges. Shifting between fantasy and reality, vulnerable and brash, “BAD WEATHER” is as ominous as it is exultant. Combining a transfixing, visceral narrative with razor-edged guitars and driving metallic drums, the southern gothic chanteuse creates a rugged desert rock paean to Sixties pop culture (RUSS MEYERS’ psychosexual super vixens, ENNIO MORRICONE’S spaghetti westerns and NANCY SINATRA’S provocative steam heat), DAVID LYNCH’S Blue Velvet and Lost Highway, as well as, the glimmering retro-modern sounds of contemporaries like LYKKE LI and THE RAVEONETTES.

’Bad Weather’ evokes the feeling of watching a woman about to come unbalanced as she loses her emotional innocence to her heart's urges toward an unobtainable man” she reveals. “I composed the track from beat to melody after my boyfriend set me up with Pro-tools. It wasn't my first time working with the program but it was the first time it was all mine to play with - in the comfort of my own space, which happened to be at my Mother's ranch”.

“This was my first time playing and writing with guitar, so I couldn’t help but approach it like the bassist I am with very simple ideas and lines. I just took out my step-dad's Gibson and the song came quickly. It was truly inspired by my surroundings and my unease in a new relationship with someone so damned sexy and undeniable”.

For the B-side, Black slows things down on “NEW MEXICAN SUNSET”. The slinky duet, featuring vocals from BB guitar Jason Blum, is a haunted ode to weary nomads traveling across desolate New Mexican trails and canyons. The set closes with the bonus cut “BAD WEATHER (BLACK & CULLERS ALT VERSION)” – an ee

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