Lennon's True Love

The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger is the musical lovechild of Sean Lennon (the only son of John and Yoko Ono) and his model girlfriend Charlotte Kemp-Muhl, named after a play Kemp-Muhl wrote when she was a kid. As GOASTT, the couple toy with eclectic inspirations—from Victoriana to freaky folk to French scat-rap—to create a mash-up that Lennon has artfully described as a “medieval-alien hodgepodge.” In the recently released Acoustic Sessions, the first full-length album from the duo, Lennon and Kemp-Muhl offer an intimate, pared-down introduction to their quirky world, populated by phantoms, robots and magical gardens (listen to new track “Jardin du Luxembourg" here). The portraits we premiere today were shot by Lennon himself, who picked up a camera to capture his oft-photographed paramour in upstate New York. (Apparently, Lennon is quite the Renaissance man: in addition to being a producer, musician and artist, he is known to be a skilled archer.) Impressed by the pair's synergy—inseparable travelers, business partners, roommates, spirited sartorialists—we thought we’d test their knowledge of one another, and asked them to answer a series of questions for each other, in the spirit of newlyweds.

What is Sean/Charlotte's most distinct memory of the day these images were shot?

Sean: Charlotte was pretty preoccupied with these seed pods she discovered that were full of silky fluff. We have no idea what they were—way glossier than cotton, and bursting out of a long, green spiked pod. I seem to recall her being obsessed with the idea of harvesting and knitting a dress from those alien fluff pods.
   
Charlotte: Sean was grappling all day with his new film camera, trying to master the analog medium with all it's manual quirks, begging me to behave and hold still as he dialed in his focus and aperture settings. Finally he flung it down and opted to dive in the lake with me, swimming to the opposite shore and back. He's quite the aquatic jock. Big lungs. Then he proceeded to show off his manly prowess via the nuanced art of stone skipping. (That was one of the highlights of the day, because of course I got competitive and tried my damnedest to oust him, but his superior hand-eye coordination trumped my flailing orangutan limbs.)

Which item of your clothing can Sean/Charlotte not stand?

Sean: She gets a little freaked out when I wear scumbag sunglasses, you know, the bling-bling type. I just think they're funny.

Charlotte: Sean is sweet about it, but I can tell he chokes back a little puke every time he catches me rocking his underwear (when I'm too lazy to do laundry!). It's the penis flap that throws him off... But I think the kangaroo pouch is fun.  

Do not miss the rest of this hilarious interview! It's all here.