The fabled, long-forgotten cult record is the music nerd’s Ark of the Covenant. In the age of over-saturation where genuinely new music is coveted like holographic Charizards, fans search desperately for an old sound that, through the trials of obscurity and rediscovery, becomes new.
Singer-songwriter Linda Perhacs embodies the perfect tale of the innovative soul that was buried and unearthed by time. Like all great tales of cult record lore, Perhacs’ beginnings and middles were humble.
She worked as a dental hygienist in the early 70s where she had a momentary brush of fame when Leonard Rosenman, acclaimed composer of films like “Barry Lyndon” and “Sybil,” happened to be one of her clients and she passed him a tape of her music. He loved the tape so much that he decided to produce her hauntingly lush debut album “Parallelograms.” The now-defunct Kapp Records released her debut in 1970, and, to her dissatisfaction, sales were dismal to nearly non-existent.
The album embodied the feeling of a nation becoming self-aware of nature’s fragility. Her voice, often layered over itself in a rich texture, reflected both the innocence and mystery of the outdoors. Even if her debut had initially received the praise it so deserved, her cozy and contented sound would still be a treasure to behold.
Disenchanted by her music’s lack of reception, Perhacs faded into the background, choosing to pursue her dental career and retiring from music entirely. Meanwhile, “Parallelograms” embarked on a slow, arduous journey from commercial failure to the myriad hands of record collectors, finally ending up on the desk of folk label Wild Places.
Perhacs had vanished so deeply into the woodwork that it took Wild Places two years to track her down and finally reissue her debut in 2003. Her wistful acoustics and autumnal harmonies fit snugly into the new wave of indie folk artists that were just beginning to explode onto the music scene.
Over the next few years, numerous musicians descended onto her music and recruited her for collaborations. Producer Prefuse 73 featured her on his album “Surrounded by Silence,” psych-folk guitarist Devandra Banhart recruited her on his acclaimed album “Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon” and even Daft Punk used her music in their 2006 film “Electroma.”
Perhacs’ decades-old sound was given a fresh pulse and was broadcast to a new, receptive audience. Her cult following not only brought her debut to a modern generation, but in 2010 she began recording again with LA musicians Fernando Perdomo and Chris Price for what would become her long overdue follow-up to “Parallelograms.”
Sufjan Stevens’ very own Asthmatic Kitty Records announced late last year that after 44 years of pained silence, Perhacs would finally release her fabled follow-up, titled “The Soul of All Natural Things.” She released a statement about the intent of the album, saying, “My music isn’t just recreational; it’s not just entertainment. I have a deeper purpose. My soul is giving itself to the people; I want them to be helped, I want them to be lifted.”
Through a perfectly timed synthesis between the searchability of the Internet age and the fierce dedication of a few record collectors, Perhacs finally has an audience to give her soul to.
