New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Green Light Go Entertainment ) Ed Hale, lead singer of the rock band turned music collective Ed Hale and the Transcendence, showed his support for the Occupy movement this week when he appeared at the Occupy Seattle protest holding a sign saying "No Sleep till Justice" and "Put Greed to Bed". But as usual with the often outspoken and always creative artist/activist, Hale showed up looking as though he had just gotten out of bed, literally! Wearing nothing but a pair of slippers, pajama bottoms and a bathrobe, Hale marched the streets of downtown Seattle with thousands of others, his strange choice of an outfit driving home the message of the sign he lifted high above his head as he marched. Hale's myriad approaches to protest and political activism through the years - including dressing up as a US Army General to protest the war in Iraq, or his Peace Missions to Iran as a Civilian Diplomat - have always been bold and creative, and sometimes downright controversial at times. Combined with the rapid pace at which he records and releases music, two of Ed Hale's multiple personas have come together now in a cohesive manner more than ever before in the public spotlight; offering something for everyone. Read more about Ed Hale's "Occupy weekend" in his long running blog The Transcendence Diaries: https://www.transcendencediaries.com/2011/10/occupymyweekend.html
Of course some of Hale's statements are more subtle than others, though no less strongly felt. His latest single as a solo artist, "New Orleans Dreams," is a delicate and poignant acoustic ballad that's climbed to #23 on the Adult Contemporary Top 40 in the US, placing Hale among the ranks of major-label stalwarts Lady Gaga,
Bruno Mars and One Republic. But the pretty song, which is also spinning in over twenty other countries around the world, has more to it than initially meets the eye. Underneath the lush cello arrangements and pristine vocal harmonies, "New Orleans Dreams" packs a powerful political punch with an understated and poetically disguised protest message that is lending a voice to what many are feeling all over the country. The fact that a political protest song, by an indie artist no less, is in the Top 30 with songs like 'Party Rock Anthem' by
LMFAO says a lot about the current state of the world we live in and what people are thinking and feeling right now. Listen to the song here, or hit "Reply" to get an exclusive peek at the brand new unreleased music video.
Buoyed by the sudden success of "New Orleans Dreams" in the midst of ever growing dissatisfaction with government all over the globe as evidenced by the ground-swelling grassroots movement known as "Occupy", Ed Hale dropped a bomb on his fans and the music world when his record label, Dying Van Gogh, announced the release date of the long-awaited new Transcendence album All Your Heroes Become Villains. Years in the making, the band's new CDis creating its own movement -- building up to its November 15th release. A mind boggling mash-up of post-modern styles with eclectic rhythms, other-worldly guitar riffs, dark moody lyricism and the impassioned desperation of Hale's vocalizations, the apocalyptic concept-album seems a perfect fit for the times we live in and has struck a chord with early listeners trying to find justice and fairness in a world nearly gone mad. Photos and review copies of the new album available upon request.
