East Exchange - ‘ghost.’
Continuing to cement themselves as one of the UK’s most exciting emerging alternative acts, the foursome’s latest offering, ‘ghost.’, is fantastic.
The latest preview of their forthcoming debut EP, ‘torn between ties’, ‘ghost.’ comes towards the end of a Summer packed with festival appearances and support slots alike — including a set at 2000trees, which as per our review was nothing short of phenomenal — and follows their trend of both distinctly mononymous track titles, which must make them easy to remember, and hating capitalisation. The ‘90s, grunge-esque group have only gone from strength to strength after each single, support slots with the revered Enter Shikari, the ferocious, probably clinically insane Letlive, and international newcomers Return To Dust likely giving as good a recommendation as any review possibly could, and it’s only a matter of time before their name is spoken in similar circles.
‘ghost.’ seems another step towards that lofty but seemingly inevitable goal.
Recorded in a “dingy and depressing, run-down warehouse space”, the track opens with a solitary, reverb-soaked guitar that hangs in the silence, the track slowly builds before vocalist Sonny K’s anguished croon enters the fray. It isn’t long, though, before that restraint gives way to raw desperation, with almost panicked cries of “do you know my name?” cutting through the haze like a final plea from someone fading into the background of another person’s life, the eponymous spectre left looking on longingly, unseen and unheard by the person he cares about… which is pretty damn on point for the track’s lyrical meaning, too. ‘ghost.’ explores the frustration of feeling invisible within a relationship, capturing the loneliness of desperately wanting to be understood by someone who no longer seems to see you, and Sonny’s vocal performance sells every second of that emotional weight, effortlessly shifting between delicate melancholy and ragged, impassioned outbursts — even as the aforementioned question is left unanswered to fade into the ether.
Sonny’s desperate, despondent vocals do a lot of the heavy lifting in the track, but more than anything that’s obviously a conscious thematic choice. The slow-burning rhythm section allows the atmosphere to breathe before a haunting solo slices through the mix, almost maudlin as it pierces through the tangible fog of the track, as if in one last-ditched attempt to be perceived; even Elliot Burge’s drum beats are left slow, muted and unobtrusive, as if to leave them unnoticed and let them fade into the background. Sadly, the ending feels a little too forgotten, the track seeming to just taper off of its emotional momentum, the final chorus feeling only a half-step above what had come before it; you can easily imagine it being an altogether more unwieldy live beast, though, with climactic, cathartic screams reigning over blistering instrumentals — though admittedly it also feels like a hard balance to tread in terms of keeping the poignancy. Still, you can never discount the live effect.
A brilliant track, perfect to put on and fade away into, and a rather cruel teaser for an EP still a month away.
Words by James O’Sullivan
