Nashville, TN (October 28, 2022)
After releasing nine new singles in 2022 including Christian rock radio hits “Bottom of the Barrel” and “What’s Kraken?,” Rusty Shipp has finally released the long-anticipated, full-length concept album, Cosmic Innuendo, Vol. 1: Dark Side of the Ocean.

The album stands as an artistic landmark for the band, being their first full-length concept album to be included in a larger, successive story arc, titled Cosmic Innuendo. Aside from occasional nods to the famous Pink Floyd album, the album conceptually emphasizes the balance between dark and light, descent and ascent, men and angels. The first half of the album (21 ½ minutes) called “DESCENT” follows the descent of a drowned sailor sinking past undiscovered creatures and mysteries to the bottom of the ocean where his soul is intercepted by a group of sea angels and taken to their underwater kingdom. The second half of the album (21 ½ minutes) is called “ASCENT” and explores this angelic kingdom, ruled by Poseidon the Ocean’s King Archangel. After debating the danger involved, the angels decide to ascend and see why men’s souls are sinking so often from the ocean’s surface, feeling a duty to help these men in the world above the waves, which the angels ironically call Heaven.

Following this theme of balance, the songs create a diverse tapestry of eclectic genres (grunge, surf, punk, ska, reggae, metal, acoustic, etc) and innovative artistry, while each song also stands on its own as single-worthy with catchy riffs and melodic hooks that give each a pop commerciality. Beneath the surface of the artistic imagery of sea angels, the philosophical messages in each song reflect the angst and conflict that can clearly be traced back to the climate of 2020, in which the lyrics were written. Yet while confronting the issues of 2020 that tore the world apart, the songs carefully shift the perspective of the listener to the things that will bring us all together again, the real hope that is available to every soul on the planet.

“Down at the Bottom of the Barrel, still your love is bottomless
The weight of the world is crushing me to a pulp, but it brings my soul to the surface
And if I make my bed in Mariana Trench, I’m welcomed to a city that’s lit
Bioluminescence” -lyrics from ‘Bottom of the Barrel’

‘Bottom of the Barrel’ Music Video:

Spotify Album Playlist:

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