Even though Topaz McGarrigle has never released a solo album before, Austinites know to expect the unexpected. With Golden Dawn Arkestra, the fashionable, bizarre sun cult known for funk jams, he's an otherworldly prophet for the sun god, Ra. As a solo artist, he's a different kind of devotee.
For his new EP, under the single name Topaz, McGarrigle only has eyes for his wife, Rose Barnett. This adoration unfolds over the course of three music videos — a "cosmic opera trilogy" — each rife with symbology and lush, yet minimalist set design. High fashion drips from everyone onscreen, and will turn heads at a June 29 release party at Roma, a sensuous new dance club downtown.
The three music videos (directed by Ben Blanchard) are already out on YouTube — all the better for fans to study before heading out to the party. All guests must be dressed for the opera, whether that's to see it or to be in it. (Check out McGarrigle's Pinterest board for some ideas ranging from old Hollywood, to queer ballroom, to Cher, to actual opera costumes.) But these inspiring images onscreen will live long past the one-night release extravaganza, where McGarrigle will serve as a very fashionable DJ and sax player.
That means one track remains, to be unveiled when the EP, The Gift, drops as a whole on June 28. Named for a mysterious gift Barnett gave McGarrigle during the pandemic, it never becomes fully clear what that gift was, but all the hinting is much more fun. One obvious contribution is Barnett's fashion sense; The creative director for Golden Dawn Arkestra, she appears in each music video in impeccable looks, from the Fosse-forward "Amsterdam" to the etherial "North Star." (That's Melon Collie, with the Infinite Sadness, right? We all see it?)
While the sexy former single represents summer, and the cool, shimmering latter represents winter, "The Gift" ties it all together in a speed run through all four seasons, from falling golden leaves to editorial spring blossoms. The sleek aesthetics are accompanied by highly processed Europop: the perfect soundtrack for such aloof glamor.
Barnett appears in mysterious silence throughout the trilogy.Photo courtesy of TOPAZ
Although the seasons aren't necessarily integral to understanding each song, they do create a sense of passing time that is befitting of a lifelong bond — not to mention the celebratory springtime highs or the frigid lows any relationship weathers. At the lowest level of analysis, these are simply creative prompts resulting in gorgeous alternate dimensions.
"I mean, other sh*t's boring. I don't know," says McGarrigle of his high-concept proclivities. His inspiration comes from the 70s icons of his childhood — Parliament, Fela Kuti, James Brown, and David Bowie — as well as a desire to exit the ordinary. "I just love drama and grand concepts. But also, I feel like we're in a space and time where we need to be pulled out of our present moment. We get so caught up in our phones and our technologies, and it almost takes a little bit more to get people into [it]."
Whether it's for Topaz or Golden Dawn Arkestra, there are always fashionable dancers.Photo courtesy of TOPAZ
McGarrigle also references his hometown of Dripping Springs, which at least at the time he was growing up — or just in his neighborhood; he can't decide — was a "Bohemian haven." Neighbors grew weed or smuggled cocaine, and everyone was a character worthy of the minimalist, avant garde operas that have recently caught his attention.
Willie Nelson was a musical inspiration, but not as much as folks in the neighborhood: McGarrigle's jazzy saxophone teacher who played for George Strait, 90-year-old Mexican cowboy Tom Alba, or just "Suzie" who milked goats down the street. A steady stream of "freaks" issued forth from the Austin Waldorf School. Although the artsy Barnett is a very worthy muse, it sounds like she couldn't have found someone more open to having one.
"That energy of freedom and doing what you love, I think, is what really informed my [creativity]," says McGarrigle.Photo courtesy of TOPAZ
The pandemic was a fruitful one for many artists, despite the slowdown of gigs and the introduction of other new hardships. Suddenly, with time to create (or more pessimistically, a reality that easily inspired escapism), creatives turned to unexpected new projects. For McGarrigle, this meant writing more personal music.
"I never really used to write more personal love songs; It was always more grandiose and cosmic," he says. "Definitely during the pandemic it transitioned me into speaking to the human condition a little more, and just realizing that we're all going through this crazy sh*t right now on this planet, and speaking to that. The whole EP, is kind of a love letter to my wife. ... I loved the pandemic. I think we should all pause for a year or two every 10 years."
Musically, too, this creative rebirth took the songwriter from jazzy, organic jams to tracks that would be nearly impossible to recreate live — at least not without heavy programming. While DJing at home with Barnett and two Golden Dawn dancers, Rachael Hanlon and Hailley Lauren, he got more acquainted with synth pop, French house, Italo disco, and bloghouse, which all influenced the sounds on The Gift.
Whether it's the fashion or the narrative arc through the singles, The Gift is high art all around.Photo courtesy of TOPAZ
This is good news for revelers stopping by Roma on Saturday, if they like dramatic dance environments. They'll find different activations in each room, aerial dancing, pop-up operas, strings, and more immersive elements. The goal, McGarrigle says, is to sweep guests up into the feeling of being in an opera.
Tickets ($20) for the album release party at Roma (206 Trinity St.) are available via Eventbrite. The Gift officially comes out as an EP on June 28. More information is available at topaz-music.com.
