The Ghosts - The End Album Review
An album that will resonate, influence and inspire for years to come.
rating: 4
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wearetheghosts Release date: 15th April, 2012 The Ghosts are a product of love. Not the one-night-stand sort, thats more like desperation, but more like a long-lasting, serious love where it takes over everything and everyone. The Ghosts is the baby of a lifelong relationship, cared for and nurtured until the creation finally came to fruition. This love and relationship is, as you may have guessed, the conjoined adoration and devotion to music. After the dissolving of previous musical projects and the urge to come up with something new, something infinitely enduring and something more personal, Ian Palmer (drums) and Alex Starling (vocals) were introduced by a mutual friend none other than The Charlatans Jon Brookes in December 2010. Soon after, they met up and discussed what they liked and didnt like about music and what each others influences were. They both found that what they liked about music, the other had a fairly similar interest so the crossover in their tastes was obvious from the start. This is where The Ghosts grew from. Pretty quickly, the duo were looking for studios and started recording the record that theyd felt the need to create for so long. Rayna Ferner, Alex Sharman (both keys) and Dan Whiffin (guitars) soon joined the band and the process began. Recorded with Tim Bran (whos worked with the likes of La Roux, The Charlatans and Paul McCartney) in two weeks after the initial writing of the songs in the quickfire pace of two months, The End is far from it. Its the start of a great chapter of the band members lives, and the book theyre writing is going to get better with each instalment. Opener, Ghosts, combines a echoing, catchy riff with bouncy, melodic keys and a solid, thick drumbeat. Starlings vocals are crystal clear, both in execution and lyricism. The climbing, tender, growing vocals of the repetition of Ghosts while the music swarms and holds your attention makes it a great opener and shows that The Ghosts are all about great implementation while the tracks are still catchy, and thoroughly enjoyable. http://youtu.be/QbiVnhqQJcY Company Like Yours shows the bands tender side. Sounding like a tribute to past times, the tracks bound to keep the romantics happy especially with the line of And give me company like yours, which Starling just caresses through his lips to end the track. The warm, glowing music really adds to the feeling of lost romance with the slow melody and gentle keys leisurely slowing down hearts as well as slowing down memories of before that are racing through your mind at this point of the album. Everything Will Do plummets in with a fast-paced, hooky guitar riff which points to the bands influence of Jeff Buckley, with the riffs that fluctuate throughout the song pounding and ripping through the thundering drums. The interesting thing about this track is that there were two drummers involved Palmer and The Charlatans Jon Brookes and even though the track should therefore have perhaps been more drum-based, with more pummelling rhythm, that isnt the case. Even though it is indeed an extremely danceable number, the layers which collide throughout this track make for a deep and absorbing listen for the more thorough listeners. Unless, the final track, plays like an acoustic track which really sounds out the bands precision in making this album one that can be played acoustically. Listen to all the tracks and there isnt one that would be out of place in an acoustic setting, which is something the band went for. This shows the unique style this album has incorporated, as it could be a pure acoustic listen, an electronic set or even a haunting strings-based listen. Its a real heartfelt and passionate record. Starling has said, Were incredibly proud of what weve done so far and we need to work it so that we can move on and make the next one. You dont read many sentences more true than that; the band should be proud of what theyve achieved here as its an album that will resonate, influence and inspire for years to come.