Love Ghost x SKOLD - Nightshade and Cocaine (Metropolis Records)

I’ve been following the Love Ghost story for a long time now and there are two aspects that always stand out for me. Aside from the band’s meteoric rise from local outfit to global concern, their rapid maturing from young players to poignant social commentators, their lyrical smarts, and their musical chops, the defining concern is, perhaps, that Love Ghost understands that collaboration is critical.

You can have a wealth of ideas within a band, but that gang mentality can only get you far. Bring in outside influences, other people to bounce ideas off, introduce new possibilities and ways of looking at the world, and things really open up for you, which is why you find that most of the recent Love Ghost songs are ones that see them working with the great and sound of the alternative and underground world, as they do here with Tim Skold co-writing and producing.

This leads to the next standout characteristic. That constant collaboration has seen Love Ghost wander all over the musical landscape in pursuit of their creative goals, not just in the expected grunge/alt-rock scene that first birthed them, but through more hip-hop realms, metal sounds, gothic sonics and beyond. Why limit yourself to just one sound or style when the whole musical world can be your plaything?

Here, the majestic “Nightshade and Cocaine” sees them wandering through the atmospheric, stygian gloom; a gothic-infused sound but one laced with proto-metal guitars and searing alt-rock salvos, ebbing and flowing between explosive highs and piano-led lulls to create a wonderful dynamic.

The great thing about Love Ghost is that any song they give us is just a momentary snapshot of where they are. Such is their nature that they are already on to the next sound even as the last echoes of the previous one are still fading out into the night. So, fall in love with this song if you want, and it isn’t hard to do, but what they present you with next might be a world away from it sonically and stylistically.

And that is, perhaps, Love Ghost’s greatest skill.

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