After the success of “Splendor Solis”, the band enjoyed the full support of their record company as well as the financial leeway to make their new album more ambitious. What was already foreshadowed on “Splendor Solis” unfolded in full splendor on “The Edges of Twilight”: the band’s passion for exploring new musical horizons, especially by integrating influences from the Middle East.

While these influences were still imitated with conventional instruments on “Splendor Solis”, authentic original instruments from the Middle East were used on “The Edges of Twilight”. This not only required learning these instruments, but also led to a clearly perceptible world music influence on many of the new songs. With “The Edges of Twilight”, the band finally succeeded in defining their artistic identity and establishing a trademark that was often referred to as “Moroccan roll”.

The incorporation of sounds from India, Morocco or Iran was not entirely new – The Beatles and Led Zeppelin had already experimented with such influences, and even in the 90s the band Kula Shaker pursued similar approaches. But through the unique combination of these musical influences, Jeff Martin’s mystical, dark lyricism and his distinctive voice, the band created a sound that was rooted in the classic rock music of the 60s and 70s, but was independent and full of ideas and was able to create a magical atmosphere. It was not without reason that advertisements for the album featured the slogan “Welcome to the Magical World Of The Tea Party”.

The songs for The Edges Of Twilight were written long before the band went into the studio and were practically finished by then. Some of the songs, such as “Walk With Me” or “Drawing Down The Moon”, had already been played by the band during live performances on the Spendor Solis Tour. Others, such as “The Badger”, were written during this tour. However, most of the songs were written in the bands hometown (near Windsor, ON) and worked out in detail in Jeff Martin’s apartment, who was living on St Paul Street in Montreal at the time. Stuart Chatwood moved to Montreal at this time to be closer to the action. As the songs began to take shape, they also began to think about who could produce the album. It was a given that Martin would be at the controls again this time, but as on Splendor Solis, he wanted someone else to support him to get even more out of the songs.

The choice quickly fell on Ed Stasium, who had already worked for Mick Jagger, but had primarily made a name for himself as the Ramones’ producer. Stasium, who lived in Los Angels, traveled to Canada, attended an acoustic concert by the band and listened to the demo songs in Jeff Martin’s car. He liked what he heard and so the collaboration was sealed. While still in Montreal, he recorded the first rough versions of the songs at Martin’s house, and so the band was well prepared when they flew to Los Angeles in December 1994 to begin recording TEOT at A&M Studios.

It’s melancholy you know, I was always a pretty dark kid, I just think that the mood and the melancholy inheritance of Eastern music was what attracted me to it. Just like with poetry, I’m more interested in dark poetry.

In December 1994, the band left for Los Angeles, where they began recording The Edges Of Twilight at A&M Studios. The recordings took a total of 7 weeks, with a short interruption due to the holidays at the end of December. At the same time, Neil Young was also working in the studio, and he thoroughly impressed by what he heard.
For Ed Stasium, it was above all the “exotic” instruments that presented him with a welcome challenge, as he had hardly had any experience with them before. Packages containing new instruments were repeatedly delivered to the studio during the recording sessions. It is said that a total of 31 instruments can be heard on the album.

A kind of tent was set up in the studio especially for Martin, in which he recorded the vocals. It is also legendary how Martin, who was no longer completely sober, accidentally knocked over and destroyed a tanpura in anger – the sound can be heard as a hidden track at the end of the CD. Also not listed is the track “The Edges Of Twilight”, which the band recorded together with British folk legend Roy Harper and on which he recites a poem accompanied by the band’s music.

Work on the album began daily at lunchtime and extended into the late evening hours. Producer Ed Stasium particularly remembers Jeff Martin’s impressive vocal qualities – the vocals were often recorded successfully on the first attempt, and it rarely took more takes to achieve the desired result.

For a long time, speculation circulated as to whether unreleased material or even complete songs from the recording sessions at A&M Studios might still exist. However, these speculations can be largely refuted. The band apparently only recorded the tracks that were ultimately released on the album.

The album was first relased on March 21, 1995 in Canada and shortly later rolled out in Australia, Europe and USA. The first Single was ‘Fire In The Head”, for which also a video was released.

At this time , the record company sent out a kind of information letter by post called “Correspondences”, informing people about the upcoming release and tour plans.

I just feel that, with the music we’re doing, maybe we’re going to expose people to a whole new rainbow of colors and musicians… everything. And really, that’s only going to benefit everyone.

The album was heavily promoted by the record company, particularly in Canada and Australia, but also in Europe, where adverstied were printed in the UK and German Rolling Stone magazine, among others.

The Tea Party also tapped into a medium that was still in its infancy at the time: the Internet. The website teaparty.com was available from 1995 and consisted mainly of white texts on a black background.

The Tea Party were also one of the first bands to broadcast a concert live on the Internet (see video snippet from that gig on the left).

For the release of the album, the band gave numerous interviews for various Canadian radio stations and TV channels. The first single, “Fire In The Head”, was released and a music video was produced for it, which went into rotation on MuchMusic, the Canadian equivalent of MTV.

The Edges of Twilight reached #11 on the Canadian album charts and achieved double platinum status, earning the band several Juno nominations including “Best Rock Album” and “Group of the Year.” The album peaked at #8 on the Australian charts. With over 400,000 copies sold worldwide, it became The Tea Party’s most commercially successful release. German music magazine Visions ranked The Edges of Twilight #48 on their list of the most important albums of the 1990s. In a fan poll conducted on the band’s Facebook page, Sister Awake was voted as The Tea Party’s best song ever.

The global tour supporting The Edges of Twilight encompassed approximately 150 performances worldwide. While the band had previously employed a strategy of performing up to three in individual cities during the Splendor Solis tour to cultivate audience growth through personal recommendations, the Edges tour featured more limited European engagements.

A particularly noteworthy moment during this tour occurred on October 18, 1995, at the Montreal Forum, where The Tea Party served as the opening act for legendary musicians Robert Plant and Jimmy Page. This performance wasn’t only a musical highlight, but also initiated a personal friendship between Jimmy Page and Jeff Martin that would continue for a couple of years thereafter.