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Tracklist: “Gambit” * “[Do I Have] Your Word” * “Hurricane” * “Shine” * “Demons Crawl” * “Never Take Fire” * “Just the Same” * “Beyond Repair” * CD also includes 8 remixes of tracks above by various artists + 8 additional remixes are available in the “Black Album” limited edition, only available to purchasers of physical CD | Release date: Dependent (Europe) – 04-Apr; Metropolis (US) – Mar-12.

Previously on darkwave.ro:  Ghost & Writer – “Shipwrecks”: Viva Music Album Review

About Ghost & Writer: GHOST & WRITER is a project group devised by JIMMYJOE SNARK III, a man of multiple talents featured as VIVA MUSIC’s Artist of the Month in October 2010, and SEABOUND’s Frank Spinath – a killer combination that comes with a great concept album and good vibes. Prior to the album’s release, JIMMYJOE SNARK III confessed toVIVA MUSIC that “Shipwrecks” comes as a mirrored structure of 8 tracks and their remixes, with a Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde quality to it: “both Frank and I are involved in different bands and projects, so there are some elements we put in here and not there, maybe because that is not the right project for it, and in that sense, there is a Dr. Jeckyll aspect to how we behave”’.

Ghost & Writer: “Red Flags” – Viva Music Review:

When the news of a new Ghost & Writer album got to us, we took it as a good sign for 2013. Not only had their previous “Shipwrecks” left a strong impression with us, but it also stayed. We somehow knew that the creative efforts put into a side project are sometimes larger, paradoxically, than in a main project, because you usually want to pour into it a larger scale of emotions and a more minute musical effect, so somehow, the news of a new Ghost & Writer album took us aback. Had time passed so fast? Have they found something new to show and proudly present it? To both questions, we were to find, the answer was yes.

The thing with “Red Flags” is that it hits you from the moment you see the disc. The strong colors and imagery of the cover play with disclosure and secrecy in the exact recipe that makes you curious to go further, with the next sense, that of hearing. Listening to the album, you realize, it’s a great distance from what you loved in “Shipwrecks“, but not at all least lovable. “Red Flags” uses this imagery – of ‘red flags’ signaling peril, getting attention, asking for caution. These are the red flags of a personal experience, in which things do not go as partners wish or expect, they are red flags for no-fairytale and put-your-feet-back-on-the-ground.

The songs in the album come in a narrative sequence: beginning with the melodious “Gambit“, in which we see the signs of a strong bond (“when one of us is cut/we both bleed“), which simply sweeps the listener off their feet, to “[Do I Have] Your Word”, in which the notion that the fairytale ended (“the fairy dust is gone“), we see a transition, both musical and lyrical. “[Do I Have] Your Word” strikes as a very vibrant and emotional piece, you can actually see how many boundaries of emotions are trespassed in front of your eyes, and it brings along a very elegiac, yet unhurt streak of feeling. “Hurricane” shows if not the storm, its aftermath, and lights up in bright and dark undertones which complete each others like tresses of hair. But then with “Shine“, when we also gain more intuition into what probably went wrong, we also see the facts as they are: the contrasting mild English and stark German lyrics add to the composition greatly and the result is a great musical piece. And if emotions are to be laid bare, the unleashed “Demons Crawl” shows more. Gradually we see how music during the conception phase of the album was thought to escalate and capture like a musical photo camera the emotions in their best melodic line. “Never Take Fire” shows in terms of the romantic affair described by the album some love fatigue – but luckily for the listener, this comes packed in a great tune. “Just the Same“, covers oceans of emotions and shows how intricate the question of ‘going on’, ‘with or without’ is when you talk about the sublime and mundane emotions which entangle two people. And then, “Beyond Repair” gives the verdict, although we don’t know whether they are going on, finding happiness together or elsewhere, or even trying to keep up appearances and content themselves with what they have, which, emotionally, is already a lot. But we do know “Beyond Repair” is a great track, even without a denouement – and has a wonderful effect of letting you wanting more of what Ghost & Writer have produced, which is a great quality for any album. Enjoy!

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