"Vanished Without a Trace"

On April 22, 2005 DDT released their new disk "Vanished Without a Trace„ on CD Land Records. The album is comprised of eleven new songs written and arranged over a twenty-month period. Each song has its own nuances, its own color, and its own melodic line. Konstantin Shumaev, the group’s keyboard player, explained: “We tried to unite all of the songs of the album, which are all quite diverse in their dynamics, via the rhythm section: bass guitar, drums, and computer sampling. This musical construction lies at the heart of almost all the songs." The disk has already met with wide acclaim in Russia.

The first song on the album is entitled "It Could Have Been„. Yury Shevchuk, DDT’s songwriter and lead singer, noted that “One might make an ironic or humorous comparison of this song with a famous painting by the Russian artist Victor Vasnetsov called „A Knight at the Crossroads“. This painting hangs on the wall of every Russian country house; it depicts a Russian bogatyr lost in thought, a kind of ’Rodin’s Thinker’ at the intersection of three roads by a sign on which it is written „Keep to the left“. This is an invitation to those listening (and viewing) to enter a theater in which the action that is the composition is born and takes shape."

Three songs about war,"Into the Battle,„ “Smoke,„ and “The Star„ are explosive in structure, tight in content, and dynamic, “like wounded soldiers„. “They are combined with the songs of the nurses who treated their wounds,"Shevchuk observed. ’Into the Battle’ is basically not about a fight, it is not peace, but still a sword. It’s a battle for an enlightened understanding of life, where the colonel is spirit, and the soldiers are poets."

"The song ’The Understanding Heart’ is like the eyes of a passerby on the street, the eyes of a doctor, of ones’ first teacher, of a priest: not dark, not mean, but attentive. The eyes are understanding, loving simply for the sake of loving."

When asked about the lyrics for the songs "The Sky Above the Lake„ and “Adam and Eve,„ Shevchuk replied, “What can one say about them? To begin with, a light breeze has passed over the mirror-like surface of a lake. Then the fog cleared away, and everything continued…In the song ’Adam and Eve’ there’s more than flesh, more than mourning, there is a happy night — a kind of paradise for two. Love until the sinful fall."

The disk’s title song,"Vanished Without a Trace,„ is not only about those who have disappeared and who continue to disappear in endless wars and on city streets; according to Shevchuk, it is also about those who vanish not having found a place for themselves in this life. Life has passed them by. The song contains a very significant social theme: coming to terms with the tide of misfortune that has spread throughout Russia. At the same time, naturally, it is a rock-and-roll protest against these circumstances."’Vanished without a Trace’ could even considered part of Russia’s self-image,"Shevhcuk noted. “’I’ll name the road you…’ in these words, the image of a Russian woman is present, which encompasses everything: a whisper, a breath, the song of Russia, sacred grief, sadness and hope. He didn’t perish, he might come back. I’d like to make a video entitled ’I’ll Name the Road You’. The road stretches into the distance…and she waits for him…"

"The songs ’25’ and ’Contrarevolution’ are a somewhat ironic look at the world around us, and what is happening inside and outside of us,„ Shevchuk continued.
“The country is falling into a chasm and we are laughing as loud as we can, lying about in rusty Jacuzzis like the ancient Romans, observing the end of the empire."

The song "Russian Rock„ concludes the album. Shevchuk observed that “It’s the funeral rites of the soul; a bunch of good-for-nothings want to turn our country into a banana republic and our people into a herd of sheep. The struggle continues… It’s been going on for a long time with varied success, but the soul spreads its wings above Russia. Pushkin and Dostoevsky, Pasternak and Tolstoy, Visotsky and Bashlashev are watching us."

"It’s possible to see in this new album some original associations with painting,„ Shevchuk went on. “Certain albums are like watercolors, other albums are like cave paintings, and it took a lot of work to carve, with chisel and hammer, these mammoths with human faces. ’Vanished without a Trace’ is, of course, like a cave with mouths, but on the other hand, somewhere within it there are also watercolors. It is the product of a mixed technique of watercolor, canvas, oil, and even a little bit of set design and installation."

This new rock album heralds a major event in Russian music, and also establishes new musical ground for DDT, who are observing their 25th anniversary in 2005. The group began a worldwide tour in May, and will present concerts throughout Russia, Europe, the U. S. and Canada.

Press release. 22.04.05.
CD Land Records