"The album’s arrangements, too, are perfect in their structures and timing. The listener is lulled into each track’s sound and allowed to enjoy it just long enough, before being caught off guard by a switch to something new, that while is completely different, still manages to keep with the overarching mood.." - Interrobang - Nov. 2, 2009 - London, Ontario
"...their cinematic instrumentals combine the sweeping beauty of composer Ennio Morricone's dusty soundtracks with the fluttery arpeggios and romantic melancholy of European gypsy-folk, with dark dashes of post-rock's hypnotic precision for good measure. Sort of East Meets West Meets The Future in The Past, if that makes sense. Listen to this three-cut EP and it will." - Winnipeg Sun Media - September 2009 - Winnipeg, Manitoba
"From the riding-high tones of Ghost of a Thousand Battles to the graceful and spellbinding Cathedral of Leaves and finally the haunting and masterfully conceived War, each epic track is loaded with atmospheric tension and beautiful dramatic intensity." - Stylus Mag - University Of Winnipeg - Oct. 2009 - Winnipeg, Manitoba
"The E.P. rolls on and, like the score of a Sergio Leonne flick, peters in and out of catchy gallops, slow builds and dramatic surges...it’s a fantastic album, particularly for those fans of Joanna Newsom or Black Mountain..." - The Manitoban - University of Manitoba - Sept 2009 - Winnipeg, Manitoba
The Dead Letters have come to weave a soundtrack for the sadness,violence and the haunting beauty of the human condition. In the wake of a new war, the rising creation of intricate systems of destruction and the unwavering attempt to trample beauty in favour of commerce, The Dead Letters came into fruition.
Jim Demos and Alex Janusz, long time associates of the Rock 'n' Roll juggernaut known as National Monument recognized in each other a profound interest and love for the soundtracks and compositions of Ennio Morricone. The two founding members could not forget or shake the impressions left upon them by this music and felt compelled to start a musical pilgrimage to the "Spaghetti Western" frontier. Not content to be cheap knock-offs of what came before The Dead Letters would seek new musical adventures, with sounds as mysterious and plaintive as the dying sun itself. After lengthy musical exploration and trial by fire writing and performing, The Dead Letters were born. The Dead Letters are currently bolstered by the magnificent and unique viola stylings of Jill Winzoski.
Residing in Winnipeg and Montreal, The Dead Letters music can be described as Spaghetti Western mixed up in a Balkan blender. The Dead Letters paint their sound on a wide open canvas with classical sounding tints, vaudevillian hues and swathes of unhinged guitar. Hints of baroque and sprinkles of surf can all be heard on top of big mountains echoing countrified balkan style melodies. The trio's compositions are the soundtracks to sadness, heartache, pain, suffering, war, bloodshed, inspiration, happiness, dreams, hope and revolution.
Ennio Morricone, rembetika and demotika music of Greece, Dick Dale, The Ventures, Kenny Rogers and the new edition, The Aqua Velvets , Kronos Quartet, Phillip Glass, The movies of Alejandro Jowdorowsky, Ivo Papasov, Segio Leone
