Album Notes

Author Adam Klein enjoyed success with his first collection of stories, The Medicine Burns, a 1995 Lambda Book Award nominee. Kirkus Reviews called the collection "Harrowing, and yet exquisite, unflinching and compelling." Paper hailed it "a remarkable first collection. The impression left is fierce and difficult, and not easily shaken."

Since that time, Klein turned his attention to music, forming the band Roman Evening (named after the poem by Pasolini) with former members of American Music Club. The band's first release, Together Now garnered critical acclaim. Splendidezine.com, in a feature review, described, "[A] beatifically spare, elegant quirk of an album. Roman Evening is going to get a lot of comparisons to Mercury Rev and Sparklehorse, and they are similar in aesthetics: creepy, creaky, weird, riddled with organs, and dusky. In a way, though, those comparisons will be entirely unfair; Together Now has a sound that's entirely unique, proudly weird in its own right, like a gorgeous but carnivorous orchid."

Drawing upon his years of work as a caseworker for the State of California, Klein began work on his first novel, Tiny Ladies. It then seemed natural for him to then create an accompanying soundtrack for the book. With musical collaborator Michael Mullen, the two began to explore the cinematic qualities of the novel, quickly sketching the songs following the course charted by the narrative. The soundtrack was written, recorded and mastered in 6 weeks. Roman Evening brought in Sharky Laguana (Creeper Lagoon) to play bass, and Glen Swarts (Burt Bacharach, Ray Charles) on horn.

Tiny Ladies chronicles the dangerous intersection of two women's lives, and the brutal actions they take to release themselves from the past. The CD conveys the dark urgency of the narrative, moving between spare piano and horn instrumentals, and ruminative songcraft.