Beauty In Chaos has today released the first video from their two-song EP titled ‘God’s Gonna Cut You Down’. Conceived by the likes of Johnny Cash, Odetta, Moby, and more, ‘God’s Gonna Cut You Down’ breaks with the tradition with a solid and lucid interpretation Beauty In Chaos that evokes bits of the alt-indie underground and channeling originality through Cash, Leonard Cohen, and even a bit of curator Michael Ciravolo’s Orleanian musical influence and roots.
To take a historic track that has been covered in country, folk, alternative, electronic, and even black metal, and make it their own is an accomplishment in and of itself, but to do it in a way that feels new and revealing is where the talent lay. But what else would you expect from a varied project steeped in talent and wisdom.
The charm in ‘God’s Gonna Cut You Down’ is in it’s darkness. Not in an evil way, but brooding and introspective. The music really highlights the lyrics and their meaning in this version. You feel the words and, hopefully, take something from them. The video captures that sentiment without going over the top or over your head. It fits nicely in that artistic pocket and drives the music and meaning home in a way that is memorable.
Timeless songs like this only work correctly when you make them relevant to the time you are in. Mission accomplished.
Q&A
Both of these songs are a bit different for BIC. Why did you decide to cover these two specific songs?
Honestly, the idea of doing another cover song or two was born out of my own frustration and need of completing something as I felt the overall process of our next record was just taking a bit longer than our previous albums. There were multiple factors that helped me make this decision. As you know, I have a ‘day job’ and a family (which now includes our new puppies, Maverick and Maisie Mae). Michael Rozon also has his own clients that he works for. All of that being said, this sadly limits the amount of BIC time Rozon and I can commit to weekly. Also I wanted to bring some new ‘voices’ into our BIC family, along with past alumni. This requires us to try and adapt to the hectic schedules of other artists … and patience is not always my best virtue!
The idea of doing these cover songs, with me as the singer, negated the need and the hassle to wait for anyone else’s time schedule, and also it felt really ‘old school’ in the way we approached these recordings. We had both songs recorded and mixed in six nights, which is FAST in our BIC world. This was a good thing for me mentally, and now allows my attention to be more centered and focused on our upcoming next album.
Much like BIC’s renditions of “Children Of The Revolution” and “Open Your Eyes”, you seem to be making a statement., especially in the video. Is that a correct observation?
I make a specific point of not injecting politics or religion into BIC. I think music should be an escapism from the 24/7 media bombardment of today’s world. I certainly selected these songs for their lyrics; or at least my interpretation of them. Our video for ‘God’s Gonna Cut You Down’ does have a vague ‘story line’ running through it…. which I would hope that anyone that has their own beliefs and their own faith, no matter what that is, will relate to the storyline. And I hope, well, I actually I pray that good will always triumph over evil.
You have talked about recording a new BIC album, what can you tell us about it and will these two songs be included?
We certainly are working diligently on what comes next with this new recording, And in typical BIC fashion … which is usually contrary to today’s zero-attention-span tik tok world, is turning into a double album! We just wrote the ninth piece of music this week, which puts us over the time limit for this to be a single LP. I still think in those terms, and I can’t shake that, and I am okay with that! German artist, Maren Platzhoff, sent us some wonderful cover painting ideas, and we have the submitted the different 9-tracks to the singers. I think our ‘plan’ is to have at least 14 songs, with a combination of old and new voices. While I love the ‘quest’ for new singers, I also relish our BIC family that wants to be part of this record because you just never know when it will be the last BIC album. But I know Michael Rozon and I would love to have Julian, Leo, Patrik, Whtney and my wife, Tish as part of this one. If all goes according to plan, we should have this out sometime in mid-2026.
While I always profess my disdain for ‘digital music’, “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” and “Get Down Moses” will not be on the next studio album. These were recorded for the here and now; and will only be a digital 2-song release and two videos. I certainly think we will follow our BIC playbook by including a ‘re-envision’ release eventually, and these two covers could possibly be included there.
About ‘God’s Gonna Cut You Down’
Beauty In Chaos has just released a 2-Song Digital EP single, featuring their rendition of the traditional gospel hymn “God’s Gonna Cut You Down”, popularized by The Man in Black himself… Mr. Johnny Cash (alas, a distant cousin to Beauty In Chaos’s own Tish Ciravolo) and Beauty In Chaos’ take on Joe Strummer’s “Get Down Moses”. Beauty In Chaos’ curator, Michael Ciravolo (who also sings both songs) states “While both of these songs have certainly been covered before, I think we have injected Beauty In Chaos into them … even if we have stretched, what some have come to expect from us sonically.”
Beauty In Chaos has also premiered a video for “God’s Gonna Cut You Down”, directed by Vicente Cordero (Industrialism Films). Ciravolo adds, “I think the haunted New Orleans’ French Quarter vibe compliments our approach to the song. There is certainly an underlying story-line running through the video, which is left to an individual’s interpretation… but in the end; good indeed triumphs over evil”.
Beauty In Chaos also plans to release a follow-up video for “Get Down Moses” in December.
The 2-song Digital EP is available at BIC’s On-Line Store & Bandcamp. Also on all Streaming Platforms.
Featured image by GABB.
Credits
Video
Michael Ciravolo – voice
Tish Ciravolo – guitar
Michael Rozon – guitar
Anthony Love – priest & devil
Filmed and Directed by Vicente Cordero (Industrialism Films)
Edited by Ryan Conlon
Concept by Michael Ciravolo
Lightning by Anthony Love (SL Lighting)
Hair and Makeup by Dania Ridgeway
Props courtesy of Prop Heaven
EP cover art by Liz Ardman
Video cover by GABB
Studio
Michael Ciravolo – voices, guitars and textures
Michael Rozon – lap steel guitar, snare drum, voices
Back ground voices & foot stomps –
Tish Ciravolo, Whitney Tai, Set Miller, Anthony Love and Tim Perry
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Michael Rozon
Produced by Michael Rozon and Michael Ciravolo
LINKS:
https://www.beautyinchaosmusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/beautyinchaosmusic
https://www.instagram.com/beauty.inchaos
https://x.com/_BeautyInChaos
https://www.beautyinchaosmusic.com/music-store
https://www.beautyinchaosmusic.com/bic-blog
https://soundcloud.com/33-3-music-collective
https://beautyinchaos.bandcamp.com
https://whitneytaimusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/WhitneyTaiMusic
https://www.ashtonnyte.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ashtonnyte
