Cecily Renns - Overture (The Importance of Being Earnest)
Channel: Cecily Renns
Date: 2024-01-10

Hi! So the original concept for "Cecily Renns LP2" was going to be a concept album - a retelling/reimagining based on Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. It would have some characters based on the play's roles; Cecily Cardew and Prism being some, and there were two other characters, called Lee-Seul and Sylvia. I described the sound of the album as being "midi beach boys" - the project name for the album was "pocket", short for pocket orchestra. The idea of it was to include a lot of Destroyer-esque orchestral chamber pop songs, but all done with very fake sounding MIDI instruments, and a lot of Beach boys style vocal harmonies. It was gonna be great.

This was my idea for the album, which I started writing around Janaury 2023. But as I got deeper into the year, I decided to focus my efforts on the MIDI Bunny EP, which took a very long time to create. By the time it released in August, I was a very different person than I was 7 months ago, and the type of album I wanted to write was different too. So I ended up writing 모두 살아 instead, and it's hard to say if The Importance of Being Earnest will ever take shape again, since I'm no longer friends with certain key personnel who I wanted to work with. So I'll tell you all about it now.

The story took place in an indeterminate amount of years into the future, in a post-apocalyptic setting where very few of humanity has survived. It centered around 4 young artists, who usually communicated to each other through the internet. (Think Dirk and Roxy from Act 6 of Homestuck) They grew up isolated and mostly alone, having to survive by themselves, and their idea of culture was sorely based on whatever they found from the remnants of the 21st century internet ecosystem. The idea of it was that these characters imitated 2000s/2010s fashion and culture, believing whatever that was left of that era must have been the bastion of humanity long ago.

Cardew and Prism were loosely based on myself and Biddy Fox. Cardew was an emotionally distant and troubled writer, sort of a caricature of a young, queer artist living in the 21st century, as she imitated herself to be such; she often believed herself to be a god, and had a megalomaniac personality. Prism was a much more passive figure, a poet who often took inspiration from Cardew, but also someone who disagreed with her on subjects as often as she took inspiration.

Lee-Seul was created to be the foil to Cardew; an older, experienced artist, who was often tired of Cardew's frequent emotional episodes and egotistical outlook. She saw a young version of herself in Cardew, and they had both a mentorship and a rivalship going on at the same time. Sylvia, who is not illustrated by Bridgette here because she was more of a minor character, was close to Lee-Seul and they had a more genuine mother-daughter type relationship, as Sylvia was a talented illustrator.

I had the vague notions of a story structure in my head, with the main story arc being Cardew and Prisom's eventual romance, as they both struggle to figure out and understand each other and their own mental turmoils. Lee-Seul would play a key role in Cardew's character arc, but she herself was not an active force in the story, because she was more of a "complete" character already, who didn't require an arc to understand herself.

Elements of this story - especially Cardew and Prism's relationship dynamic - is almost certainly going to be influential to the MIDI Bunny LP, which is similarly going to be a concept album. I may revisit the Earnest story and characters someday, with new collaborators! Maybe I'll write it into a book someday.

Music and words written by Cecily Renns
Artwork, vocals and mixing by Biddy Fox

PRISM:

Love is just a game to us. A playful match of chase and catch. So keep making art and never stop. We are people, not artists, art is just a God to us. There’s a God in every one of us. You speak your soul and you worship it. In this holy sanctimonious site, there’s just you and I left. You shine like a star; but don’t burn out, Cardew. All the art you make can’t compare to the things you can do. Things that make you, you. You try to make yourself a god and oh, your voice is that of one, but you’re just a girl, just a girl, just a girl, just a girl.

We went on top of the sinking house.
It was night, and we looked up.
Stars used to be a thing of the past.
Now they are the only light that shine so bright.

I said something dumb, it made me blush.
"The world used to be so beautiful."
You looked at the flooded streets and told me.
"It might still be"

We sail across the town in the dark.
A lone lantern Illuminates your face.
We climb up the water tower.
You're staying over for the night.

I lie down in cold steel with you.
You close your eyes and it comes into view.
I look at you and think as I bawl.
This might not be such a bad way to end after all.

It's not such a bad way to end after all.