I have come across GHOSTLIGHT before, (in the shape of alter ego SMDGE), and I have a lot of time for the perfectionist aspiration. SMDGE has put his name down for his electronica work these days, and so this indie band sound is now going out as GHOSTLIGHT. This EP contains tracks that have appeared before, but completely re-recording on a grander scale.
Well-made songs of this kind of yearning appear at regular intervals. But there is always space for someone who can do it with conviction and the right balance of simplicity and deft melody. Gentle touches of strings and brass underlie the strummed guitar and steady bass/drums pulse. It sounds expensive, but comes out of dedication to detail and painstaking work. The late appearance of the finished product might well be connected with such meticulous procedures.
There are those with no time for it, of course: and the "nearly-made-its" of the type certainly butter none of my parsnips. But this EP is genuinely affecting, totally coherent and more than worth your romantic surrender. As well as some obvious comparisons (see the SMDGE review) I hear something that puts me in mind of Scots perfectionists SWIMMER ONE or even BLUE NILE. It's in the attitude attitude rather than outward similarity.
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The three songs here are "Satellites", sounding big and mournful, with hope and voices in the rising chorus; "The Weight of Gravity" evoking Gary Lightbody and stepping lightly around some lovely violin before the crescendo; and "Breathing Underwater" with loving despair, and subtly strong brass playing.
To be sure, they are one as fine as another, and I see no reason not to fill up the goose bump romantic part of your collection with the full set.
www.patchedupbutstillmelting.com
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