Ep of the Day: ‘Future Is Dead’ by New Ghost
- James Shipsides
- Oct 17, 2020
- 3 min read
Band/ Collective: New Ghost
Ep: Future Is Dead
Genre/s: Alternative Rock/ Art Rock/ Shoegaze/ DreamPop/ Post-Rock
Out on: Shore Dive Records
Today’s ep of the day, is ‘Future is Dead’ by New Ghost, a musical collective, who are based in Sheffield, England.
⭐️Just a message for bands or artists before I start- Submissions of music to Theresa’s Sound World are now closed (unless of course, we’ve spoken). I’ll be taking a Winter-Hiatus in a month or so. Many thanks and on with the review!
Your Reds: Starts with classic US Alternative Rock style guitars, full of crunch and fuzz. Then the drums kick in, their delivery and production akin to a more Post-Rock sound, I immediately thought of Mogwai, or even the joyful menace of Alternative-Metal bands, such as Therapy? Then, the vocals- a soulful female voice with a more contemporary feel, guides and moves the tune with ethereal backing vocals and a lower pitched male voice adding to the expansive sound. The melody twists and turns into a memorably catchy chorus. A guitar stabs in and out of the mix, fluttering and waiting in the wings. In comes a fuzzy and spacey guitar solo, with a swirl of flangey psychedelia. It’s unhurried and effortlessly flows and evolves. Then the tune breaks into a keys and sustaining guitar feedback dominated passage, which builds, as vocals soar and drums increase in intensity. It’s a strong way to finish a tune and the perfect start to this ep.
Fountain: With a more electronic beat at it’s start, ‘Fountain’ builds with bass smoothly locked to the drums, guitar darting in and out and the vocals once more, dreamily gliding in. The male vocal gets chance to shine, before harmonising with the female, reminiscent of how classic Scottish Indie band, The Delgadoes would construct their vocal passages to produce a classic Indie and poppy sound. The hints of guitar are understated, adding to a dreamlike ambience. This is a vocal dominated track, acting as a showcase for the voices. ‘Fountain’ is very different to ‘Your Reds’, thus creating a nice contrasting midpoint on the ep.
Every River: With an energetic start, ‘Every River’ has a slight Dub-Reggae quality to it, with tight, echoey drums and a thick bass sound. The guitar has a wall-of-sound, Shoegaze flavour, but remains in the background, adding texture and colour. The male vocal leads, locking in with the bassier music elements provide a sense of gravitas, with the female vocal later adding shade and form as the chorus weaves in. During this section, there are Proggy, Richard Wright of Pink Floyd or perhaps Brian Eno-esque keys. The synth work adds to defining this tune and giving it a distinctive character; much like the other two tunes on this ep, which are thoughtfully rendered to have their own identity and style, but are consistent with the ep as a whole. Also, during the chorus, the bass and the drums still maintain prominence, (this rhythm section, increasingly reminding me of that of At The Drive In or The Mars Volta) giving this tune lots of punch and presence. The tune breaks, with layers of guitar, synths, bass and of course some spectacular drumming giving way to a thunderously fuzzy guitar snarl. ‘Every River’ breaks again, eddying into a synth, guitar and vocal section, which is very ethereal, dreamlike and psychedelic. Razor sharp guitar kicks in; again, it’s reminiscent of Mogwai, but also, Explosions In The Sky and Slint. ‘Every River’ is a perfectly pitched third track and an epic finale to a highly listenable and atmospheric ep.
You can listen to the ‘Future Is Dead’ ep by New Ghost by clicking on one of the Bandcamp links below. There’s also a link with the 📽 icon to music videos of ‘Your Reds’ and ‘Fountain’ from this ep.
🎼Bandcamp: https://newghostband.bandcamp.com/album/future-is-dead
🎼Bandcamp (On Shore Dive Records): https://shorediverecords.bandcamp.com/album/future-is-dead
📽Music Videos to ‘Your Reds’ and ‘Fountain’: https://newghostband.bandcamp.com/video
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