Ghost on Ghost
by Iron & Wine
Release date - April 16th 2013
Track List: Caught in the Briars / The Desert Babbler / Joy / Low Light Buddy of Mine / Grace for Saints and Ramblers / Grass Widows / Singers and the Endless Song / Sundown (Back in the Briars) / Winter Prayers / New Mexico's No Breeze / Lovers' Revolution / Baby Center Stage //
Since I started relying on Spotify to listen to music, I started listening to Iron & Wine again. The first album by Iron & Wine that I really listened to was Our Endless Numbered Days, which is brilliant, consistent and strong and is similar in style to their other albums. Ghost on Ghost on the other hand is a very different style to all their previous; it doesn’t follow their acoustic folk style.
Ghost on Ghost's sound from the get-go has evolved; with the opening track "Caught in the Briars", there are already new incorporations to the instrumentation: a brass section, a jazz/soul rhythm section, and female voices singing counter melodies in the background to Sam Beam. This then leads on through the album with new additions of instruments; a string section and piano. These additions are all added to the familiarity of an acoustic guitar.
The vocal elements in this album are effortless. The sections in “New Mexico’s No Breeze” where the backing singers are harmonising in sync with Sam Beam and also singing composed counter melodies in the background, these are what make the song push into soundscapes and drive the listener to get lost on the sounds.
“Lovers’ Revolution” has a free jazz improvisation section with the saxophone taking lead that is so beautifully and musically intricate that takes the listeners elsewhere keeping them fascinated in the music.
The brass section and change in style (jazz/soul rhythms) of percussion give the album a completely different feel and sound to the others – with the inclusion of free-jazz sections, and instrumental solos that bring the pieces to a close - these keep the album interesting and keep the listening paying attention. This is another album to get lost in. It is uplifting and free, with songs like: "The Desert Babbler" and "Joy". There are elements of the album that have depth and intimacy, such as "Grass Widows" and "Sundown (Back in the Briars)". Ghost on Ghost follows a story that you get lost in; this album can be on repeat and time flies.
The concluding songs of the album – “New Mexico’s No Breeze”, “Lovers’ Revolution” and “Baby Center Stage” – are a wonderful end to the album. “Baby Center Stage” is expressive and has emotional depth with lyrics such as, “Doesn’t anybody see how scared you are? / There was a time you were running to me / But the hurricane had mercy” The song finished on an uplifting tone that summarises up the album fully – “In your restless nights / We both swam blind, / Somehow falling into the light”.
Ghost on Ghost is brilliant and is an album that I will always return to.
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