Sheffield-based art rockers New Ghost release their debut album ‘A Dagger in Every Tide’ on 6 September. Written and recorded following a near-death experience, the record finds the narrator imagining their own demise and then heading on a search for a long-lost loved one…
‘Like Lazarus’ opens the record with twinkly tones and waves of distortion. The band sing ‘when we survive’ before an industrial electronica sound comes swarming over the vocals. ‘Cherry Violence’ follows with a proggier sound – landing in a space where beauty and brutality collide. ‘Over’ opens with shiny Explosions in the Sky-style guitars while the vocal interplay finds the two voices singing about being on each other’s minds. It then veers into alt-rock territory with chunky riffs.
‘Dreamsong’ veers into psychedelic territory with powerful musings – ‘I never knew how much you need it to survive’; ‘Pretend it isn’t real, your life is just a dream’ – about time running out and loved ones making escapes while ‘Viscera’ and ‘Red & Blue’ continue in the visceral vein, but with more angular guitar hooks. There are elements of Mogwai in ‘Wayfarer’ and the 5 1/2-minute ‘All Endings’, while the closing ‘Slow’ is a poignant piece with the words ‘I want to slow it down’ repeated over crashing drums and huge-sounding shoegaze-inspired guitar. It finishes with a fitting blast of furious feedback.
‘A Dagger in Every Tide’ is a powerful album that finds New Ghost looking at life, death, grief and joy with raw emotion. Dive in…
