With the release of the Godspeed & Guns album, Christina Rubino brings a new feel to a classic genre.
Lush with addictive progressions, soulful vocals, and an alternative edge, the record boasts the aesthetic of indie rock anthems. Though the songs are diverse from one another, there is a glue that holds it all together, much like a concept album would. Most importantly, the record never loses sight of the emotional platform great songs are built from.
The first single and video release, title track “Godspeed & Guns”, we see and hear a classic story of our shadow selves. The second single, set for release about a week before the album, “Shadow”, is a hard rock powerhouse playing on the same theme. Complete with a driving back bone and a pop rock attitude, the song seems to breathe and build as it plays on.’
“Shadow, in Jungian terms, represents the dark, instinctive and irrational side of the personality. It’s projections remain hidden from our conscious mind – so no matter how we try and escape becoming what we hate, the fact remains that in some sense, we already are just that, becoming more fully the shadow self by trying to escape it. You cannot drive out darkness with darkness – and when you spend your life refusing to see, you lose the ability to see even if you wanted to, which was the ultimate fate of the old man in the song shadow, and the girl in the Godspeed and Guns video,” explains the songwriter of her single.
Although the singles do speak volumes for the album, to get a real understanding of where Rubino is coming from, the album should be heard in its entirety. Songs range from indie folk tunes to dream like piano ballads, all with a story to tell.
“A recurring theme in the album are the effects of early childhood trauma, as evidenced in the song ‘Godspeed & Guns’, ‘Shadow’, ‘Feather’ and ‘Ha ha ha’. It is however, not an indication of the actual sound of the album, which changes up frequently and is quite eclectic. The album is able to reach people on a personal level because of the very real, yet seemingly unique scenarios which the characters in the songs find themselves in. These are the scenarios we all experience or even dream about in one form or another, but don’t really talk about,” says Rubino of the meaning behind her album.
Hailing from Brooklyn NY and growing up in a big family, her mother, being Irish Catholic and her father, an Italian-immigrant, Christina Rubino was raised with her 7 siblings. Though she only realized her passion for music during her teenage years, it didn’t stop her from writing songs at the age of only 17. Starting with the guitar, she began playing within groups as a vocalist and rhythm guitarist.
In 2008, Rubino joined the all-female group Violator, a NYC based Depeche Mode cover band, as the lead guitarist. Throughout her time with the band, she loved the excitement of travel and live performance, but always longed to return to making original music. 2009 marked the transition by members of Violator to Josephine, an all-female trio in which Rubino, lead vocals and guitars, wrote and collaborated with drummer Tracy Thompkins (Aerial Love Feed, Violator) and bassist Leigh Regan (Violator). After releasing an EP with Josephine in 2009 under Feed that Baby Records, Rubino went on to write and record her debut solo record, Alive From The Scrap Heap in 2014 before returning to the studio for her 2016 Godspeed & Guns release.
Websites:
ChristinaRubino.com
https://www.instagram.com/xtinakillzombys/
https://www.facebook.com/ChristinaRubinoMusic/
https://x.com/xtinarubino
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