Uniquely twisted, emotionally compelling self-described “vocalist, pianist and cello rapist” TyLean, quickly become known as eccentric, willing to sacrifice popularity for the sake of art and musicality for atmosphere. Whereas most musicians and performers are clamoring to give their audiences enjoyable entertainment and music they desire, TyLean challenges her audiences, daring them to face their personal demons as well as the cruelty of all humans. TyLean’s strong yet haunting voice is the emotional centerpiece of the full-on “despair art” recording The Unforgivable, the Unforgettable, the compelling follow-up to her 2007 sophomore album, Between 10 and 2.
Between 10 and 2 boasted a quagmire of despair in TyLean’s songs of torment or her recreations of nightmares and insanity. The album was largely autobiographical, written and recorded during a remarkably dark time in TyLean’s life, when she experienced hallucinations, paranoia, an inability to distinguish reality from non-reality and an utter loss of will to live.
Discussing Between 10 and 2 her trademark album that single-handedly captures the fullness of her artistic expression, TyLean says, “The response to the album has been rather bi-polar. Some have thanked me for shedding light into the workings of the mind of someone who is mentally unwell. Others have charged me with exploiting mental illness. I feel I have every right to do so, seeing as they are based on my own experiences, and would encourage others suffering in that hell to do the same, as it’s greatly therapeutic”.
Therapy is precisely what spawned TyLean’s third album, The Unforgivable, the Unforgettable, due to be released August 2010 on her own Bast Records. At the height of TyLean’s “insanity,” while living in Bristol, England, her progression toward mental health was in no small way connected to the writing of The Unforgivable, the Unforgettable. Having grown up in rural Pennsylvania, TyLean experienced a great deal of trauma that caused a bottomless well of emotional disturbances, “character flaws,” and resentment. Each track of The Unforgivable, the Unforgettable is based on an unforgivable or unforgettable person or event in TyLean’s life.
For her third album, TyLean was not satisfied with the ease of recording in a studio, as she had for her debut EP, When All Else Fails, and Between 10 and 2. The Unforgivable, the Unforgettable required an intensity that could only be captured live and “in the moment.” Despite having very few live performances under her belt and a great deal of stage fright to contend with, TyLean recorded the entire album live in a single performance in London on her 27th birthday.
2010 has been and continues to be a busy year for TyLean. She performed in Wave Gotik Treffen and recently returned from a Canadian tour as the female vocalist for Attrition, a stanchion of darkwave and industrial music since 1980. TyLean will be returning to Canada and her native Pennsylvania on tour in August 2010, and will again be on tour on the US West Coast in November 2010 with Unwoman. Also in 2010, Danse Macabre Records plan to re-release Between 10 and 2 as an enhanced CD containing the music video for “Corner of My Eye.”
TyLean is currently producing an album called Me(n)taL. Me(n)taL is a collection of metal bands covering TyLean’s songs, which are already popular amongst the metal community. Me(n)taL is scheduled for release early 2011, on TyLean’s Bast Records.