The TRAPPO Town Gazette

Vol. 1, Issue 7: October 16, 2024

Hello, dear reader! Welcome to the latest edition of The TRAPPO Town Gazette! I’m Dustin, and I write this amazing newsletter. And this is going to be a rather short newsletter today, since I’m working hard on the Halloween episode of the podcast and need to get back to that as soon as possible. Sorry for the truncated Gazette this week, but I’ll make it up to next week. Probably. In the meantime, here’s a musical recommendation that I really think you should check out.

NEW MUSIC SHOWCASE!

Francine Thirteen’s second EP, Psalm Of Tiamat, was released back on September of this year, and it’s very much worth your time. Thirteen’s music, which she describes as “ritual pop”, melds elements of spirituality and sensuality to deliver a genuinely moving and empowering message of embracing the divinity within ourselves.

Here’s the description from Francine Thirteen’s Bandcamp page:

“Seven years on from her first album, Lust Heals, Give Me My Sin Again, which Afropunk called a "numinous world of existential wonder", comes this new treatise on the continuation of blood, seed and mind through countless generations, a vision of the divine essence of feminine humanity.

Here, sacred beings commingle with Francine's direct ancestry, revealing advanced wisdom encoded in every note and word. "Angels and demons, outta her womb", she sings on "Emma", an ode to her Great Grandmother - a Scorpio with an uncanny ability to read the stars. "Black Doves of Dodona" concerns a lineage of women known as the Sibyls, women who brought down the messages of the ancient Mother Goddesses, embodied in the singular by Tiamat, who Herself is presently channeled through Francine: "I am no man's Daughter... Very soon I'll shed my skin."

Throughout, sumptuous production by Orbit Sound is a gently surprising, rippling stream. Texture shifts subtly. The body tingles. Sonic and structural elements drawn from diverse genres are woven together like a textile. Art is always, in some way, a foray into the unknown, but Francine's art does more than simply explore: it maps the territory, finding new routes between occult zones and subconscious spiritual awareness. And it's a gorgeous listening experience.”

Check out Psalm of Tiamat via Bandcamp right here, or find it on your streaming platform of choice.

That’s it for this week, dear reader. There will be more frivolity next week, I’m sure. Until then, be sure to visit our official blog, check us out on Threads, and all that good stuff. And this Friday, we kick off our spooky season festivities on the podcast with a closer look at the man, the myth, the Halloween legend: Screamin’ Jay Hawkins! You’re not gonna want to miss that, so check out TRAPPO by clicking here to visit us on Spotify For Podcasters, or find us wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!