LYCIA Fifth Sun CD Digipack 2019 LTD.1000

Fifth Sun

CD Digipack
Limited edition of 1000

“For me,” Mike VanPortfleet recalls, “Fifth Sun was a merging of my early 80s post-punk roots and Tara’s late 80s/early 90s Lush/Curve/Cranes/Cure influences. I also see it as Lycia’s second era’s ‘Wake’… something that followed a long period of inactivity or unfulfilled ideas and something that preceded a more realized period to come. I also see it as a sister release to ‘Estrella’, though obviously guitar oriented instead.”

“For most of the 00s, I really struggled with my confidence as a writer, engineer, musician and vocalist,” Mike continues. After releasing very little music during that period, “In the summer of 2009 I decided to start working on new material again. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be Lycia or not, and I wasn’t sure if I would ever even release it. It was just about creating again and enjoying music again. I wanted to go back to my post-punk roots so I just programmed drums and played guitar and bass. I spent the next half year or so just recording and re-recording, and I didn’t involve Tara until all the songs were done. It revived my confidence as a writer, musician and engineer. I was still struggling with my vocals, and I still was in that Estrella-mindset of wanting to be a musician first, and having Tara as the main vocalist. So her involvement started and it officially became a Lycia project.”