Bloodlines (A Censored Sunlight album)

Bloodlines is the debut album from American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, A Censored Sunlight. The album is to be released on December 21st, 2012, referencing the Mayan Apocalypse prediction. Musical founder Nick Malone described the album as a "soundtrack for apocalypse." The record was written over the course of three years. Nearly all the music and lyrics were written by Sunlight. Four promotional singles have been released so far, all to generally positive critical reception.

Background and Development
Bloodlines is the final product after three years of collective songwriting by A Censored Sunlight. The lyrical content is described as conceptional and confrontational, but also something that mainstream listeners can appreciate. Bloodlines puts focus on the beauty in simplicity, many of its themes lying in the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. The production and recording of Bloodlines began in June 2011, when Malone and producer/mentor Liz Berg were happy with Malone's current set. The first single from the record, entitled Temperance, was released in August of 2011 to positive critical reception. After having received the news of this reception, Sunlight made a full commitment to developing the record. Sunlight remained in the writing phase for about six months after the release of Temperance, but then released the follow-up single Sick, which charted well locally. Malone then took a recording hiatus to further develop the album- an entire record was created in the six month writing phase, but was scrapped and rewritten. Malone announced in May of 2012 that the record was offically out of the writing phase and was being recorded over the next few months. A third single, Silicon Nightmare, Midnight Fission was released on May 8th, 2012 and was met with mixed audience and critical reception, being called too similar to the previous single, Sick. The fourth and final single, Bloodlines was released shortly thereafter to more positive reaction.

Half of the album was recorded alongside Malone's producer, Liz Berg, but due to the tight release deadlines, Malone ended up recording the other half by himself in a makeshift bedroom studio. In November of 2012, nearly six months after the last single's release, a snippet of one of these bedroom production was leaked and discovered to be the beginnings of the song Reality in the Trenches.

Malone announced the official release date of December 21, 2012 in a blog post in honor of the Mayan apocalypse prediction. It was released as a digital pre-order on his official BandCamp. It was confirmed in late November that Bloodlines would not receive a physical release until 2013.

Musical Styles
Seeing as nearly every song on the record was written solely by Sunlight, much of the record deals with family probelms for the then fourteen year old. Other themes include doubt in religion and spirituality, and a handful of conceptual love stories. Sunlight's songs have been described as simplistic and conceptual pieces.

"If I don't love what I write, then other people definitely won't. A lot of my writing is based off of concepts I find through everyday inspiration- I just build on them and eventually I had enough for the LP."

Sunlight's vocal range on the record exhibits tenor and baritone, although his full vocal range extends to a bass.

The record is composed of down-tempo pop songs, usually with very simplistic production. The majority of the album are recorded with only vocals and one instrument, accompanied only by etherial drum patterns and guitar licks.

Divine Inferno Edition
On November 18, 2012, Malone took down the pre-order of the Deluxe Digital Edition of Bloodlines from the ACS BandCamp. That same night, Malone announced via Facebook that Bloodlines would be receiving a deluxe repackaging to be released on January 1, 2013 called the Divine Inferno Edition. It is to feature five additional songs not found on the standard release. The album cover was altered to an orange and purple layout. The deluxe version will only be available through the ACS BandCamp page until futher notice. The physical release of the standard version will be available shortly after the release of Divine Inferno. It is unclear whether the repackaging will receive a physical release. It features a duet with Abby Schwarz called "idcily."

Singles
The first single from the record was entitled Temperance, and dealt with the want to find something or someone to blame after Sunlight's parents divorced. The track received positive reviews. New York music blog iMergeAndSee gave a very positive review:

“Temperance starts out with a basic chord progression, and after a few bars you are struck with an incredible voice. The vocal melody is more than catchy, it’s beautiful and memorable. I can guarantee you will find yourself humming it at random intervals during the day. It got stuck in my head after the first listen. As for the vocal performance, Malone has very good control of his voice. The transitions between pitches is very clean, no cracking and no going off key. It is somewhat difficult to hear what the singer is saying in some parts of the song, but the emotions trying to be expressed are clear. The vocalist isn’t just telling you how he feels, he’s making you understand how he feels, and may evoke that emotion in you as well. Definitely touches your heart and soul."

The second single from the record, entitled Sick, charted well locally. Two other promotional singles were released leading up to release, including Silicon Nightmare, Midnight Fission and Bloodlines.

Track Listing
Sunlight released the final track listing on his Facebook page in February 2012. Malone has mentioned additional unreleased tracks being featured on the deluxe version of the album. Malone has also announced that "Here I Am (Mainstream Love)" is up for debate on whether or not it will be featured on the final version of the album. The single, "Sick" was on the chopping block for the final release. Divine Inferno Edition Tracks: