Visionary Pop Culture Artist and Antihero Returns With Her Follow Up To Last Year’s Graphic Novel Debut
NEW YORK, NY—On the heels of the release of her brand-new album I Disagree on Sumerian records, and the launch of a 37 date tour to support it, Poppy announces her sophomore comic book effort, again teaming with writer Ryan Cady to pen Damnation: Poppy’s Inferno.
In Genesis 1, Poppy and writer Ryan Cady (Infinite Dark) tackled themes of influence through a dissection of the relationship of fans and enthusiasts to the art on which they cast their own hope and belief. Damnation: Poppy’s Inferno continues down this path, this time putting Poppy in a story in which there are those who literally seek to control and change her for their own purposes and leading her through the depths of hell itself. Damnation 1 trades science fiction for horror, in another thought-provoking yet satirical look at fame.
“We are delighted to work with Poppy again on her follow up to last year’s fantastic debut, Genesis 1. We believe this was one of the best books we published not only in 2019, but in our time as a publisher, and Damnation: Poppy’s Inferno is shaping up to be all that and more” says Z2 publisher Josh Frankel.
Damnation is fueled by the same spirit as Poppy’s new album, inspired by her quiet rise from incalculable phenomenon (with over half-a-billion views on YouTube) to unassuming paragon of high culture, high fashion, and high art, and will be released in July 2020, in both a standard and limited Z2 exclusive deluxe edition, with both available for preorder now. Damnation: Poppy’s Inferno is written by Poppy and Ryan Cady, and features art by Amilcar Pinna (Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. Assassin, Valiant’s Forgotten Queen) and Zoe Thorogood.
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About Z2 Comics:
Z2 is the premier destination for top quality music-based comics and graphic novels, having worked across genres to deliver an authentic experience to diverse audiences.
Some of the publisher’s best-selling books include Apocrypha: The Legend of BABYMETAL, YUNGBLUD Presents: The Twisted tales of the Ritalin Club and Eden: A Skillet Graphic Novel, alongside debut works of graphic fiction by Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys), Andy Biersack (Black Veil Brides), DJ Paul Oakenfold, internet sensation Poppy, jazz trumpeter Dave Chisholm and others. Z2’s upcoming works include books created with partnership with The Grateful Dead, Sturgill Simpson and others.
About Poppy:
Progression and subversion coincide.
By subverting the ideals and constructs of society, rules, and religion, progress transpires. Poppy leverages evolution as a weapon for transformation. By doing so, she asserts herself as an anti-hero for a gender-less and genre-less world in need of a god-dess. Her quiet rise from incalculable phenomenon viewed over half-a-billion times on YouTube into unassuming paragon of high culture, high fashion, and high art extolled by everyone from HIGHSNOBIETY to Flaunt fuels her metamorphosis as “Poppy Version X.” Embodying “alternative” in the truest sense of the word, she bleeds the boundaries between pop, progressive, and electronic underpinned by unpredictable time signatures shifts and heavy edge on her third full-length and debut for Sumerian Records, I Disagree.
“In terms of doing what I wanted to in every element from start-to-finish, this feels like my first album,” she explains. “The narrative is really about destroying the things that try to destroy you.”
Throughout 2019, Poppy carefully constructed a sonic framework to do so. On the heels of her sold-out Am I a Girl? Tour, she sequestered herself in Los Angeles alongside trusted longtime collaborators Zakk Cervini, Chris Greatti, and Titanic Sinclair. They conjured the full powers of a creative spirit first summoned on “X” in 2018. Under the influence of everything from Madonna, Air, and Gary Numan to Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson, she took the reins and built the album in an unfiltered and unfettered creative ecosystem of her own design, expanding the sonic palette with an arsenal of analog synths and sonic flourishes.
“I worked with Zakk, Chris, and Titanic throughout the entire process,” she recalls. “I didn’t let anybody else hear it before it was done, and I didn’t take any outside remarks. In the past, I’d go in and make a song in a day. That was fun, but we really spent days or even weeks on these new songs to make them the best they could be. That’s a lost art in music we got to explore. There’s a lot of life that gets lived during the creation of an album over ten months that gives you a different experience and perspective. ‘X’ sparked the idea of making experimental music with no rules among my friends. That was the goal. Creating Poppy Version X.”fit. You’re not thinking about rebuilding anything yet, just thinking about destruction. It feels good.”
This feeling consistently translates to audiences. As the story goes, Poppy’s internet-breaking YouTube uploads entrenched her within the cultural conversation. She levied this position to leave an indelible imprint on art at large, beginning with her 2017 full-length debut, Poppy.Computer, and followed by the sold-out Poppy Computer Tour. 2018’s Am I Girl? accelerated her rise as she once again packed houses on the subsequent headline tour as well. Along the way, she stood out as the rare talent who could collaborate with Diplo, accompany Bring Me The Horizon on an arena tour, perform at WWE: NXT, and incite conversation at New York, Paris, and Milan Fashion Week appearances. Not to mention, she received praise from the likes of Rolling Stone, New York Magazine, and Alternative Press and appeared on the covers of Revolver, NME, Kerrang!, and many more.
In the end, her evolution as Poppy Version X may just empower.
“When you listen to I Disagree, I hope you’re not afraid of change,” she leaves off. “It’s a non-gender specific empowerment album. Right now, I’m both thankful and sick of it all. This is Poppy Version X.” – Rick Florino, November 2019
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