There is an heady blend of, largely, understated guitar work and that gorgeously brooding cello that runs through ‘Ghost’ that immediately puts me in mind of Damian Rice and particularly some of those fantastic moments on his debut album. That said, there is more here through which Sonnen Blume makes her own mark rather than reminding us of the past, but that is still a fantastic reference point, a cool comparison, I’m sure, she won’t mind me making.
This blend of the quiet and the contemporary makes its presence felt through a number of sonic moves – her voice is very much of that modern indie-pop sound rather than merely reworking folk traditions; the space and atmosphere in the earlier parts of the song really let the song breath and modernity prevails through occasionally deliberately glitchy moments and an over all coating of and subtle folk-pop polish.
As the title might suggest, ‘Ghost’ is a melodic musing on the lingering presence of someone no longer physically in your life. It deftly visits memory and nostalgia, perhaps guilt and that haunted echo of never fully escaping the past. Gorgeous stuff.
And, just as a postscript, although ‘Ghost’ is the focus of this scribbling, it comes with ‘Apple Pie Moon’ as a sonic traveling companion, slightly more upbeat, filled with more musical flourishes and shot through with thoughts of both solitude and adventure, and driven by more groovesome energies.
Two fantastic songs and one favorite new artist!
