Los Angeles
A Different Door of Perception

Songwriter Guy Blakeslee calls his Entrance moniker his “second name,” and his new LP, Book of Changes, a “rebirth.” A shift away from the group-oriented rock-and-roll of The Entrance Band and the psychedelic blues of previous albums like Prayer of Death, the album finds Blakeslee exploring folk and florid chamber-pop, while bringing a newfound lyrical focus to the forefront. Recorded in spurts in London and Los Angeles during a year of travel, Blakeslee says there’s a theme of change running through the songs. “Changing perspectives, changing location, changes that are beyond our control—they’re all kind of woven in there,” he says. The songs were borne out of a new writing process in which Blakeslee started each morning with a coffee or tea and freewrote three pages of his thoughts, without any editing or analysis allowed in the moment. “A lot of the lyrics and ideas came from that process,” he says. Loosely conceptual in nature, the record revels in contrasts, segueing from the ambient loops of “Warm and Wild” to the pop charms of “Always the Right Time,” from the longing ballad “Leaving California” to the anthemic, rocking “Revolution Eyes.” His songs aim to transcend the particular and achieve a kind of universality. Though lushly arranged on the record, many of the compositions were created in a solo setting, with just Blakeslee on guitar,
attempting to tap into the simplicity and directness of folk music and bypassing “the noise and clutter” of modernity. “I have a chance to reach people in a different way,” he says.