Bastila : ‘Ghosts’
Released: Out Now!!!
Label: Sunday Best Recordings
Bastila clearly know that some consumers get frustrated by how little song titles relate to a.) the music and lyrics and b.) the music video. Maybe it is trivialising the process, but having linear relationships between these aspects can often increase the enjoyment of a song indefinitely. The point is, the opening chords of ‘Ghosts’ which flicker in the background throughout the song are ghostly. The guitar hook is delivered in a minor key with lingering, sharp notes on the tremolo, eerie at the very least and other-worldly in the extreme. This then intensifies as the drums and muted cymbals come in almost certainly representing faint spirits. The drawing point to the song is the guitar and this features in the most progressive and beautiful manner, a rarity for a genre that nowadays struggles to maintain the listener’s attention for any longer than four minutes. The fact that they count Pink Floyd as one of their influences is not in the least shocking.
Overcooking the solos occasionally irks, but it is adding more weight to the basis of the song. Its indie pretensions are evident from the lyrics; the regurgitated theme of relationships. But where Bastila differ from their generation is in the chorus which has no discernable vocal part, just a medley of voices. This transition continues into following verses, multi-layered vocals parts representing the ghosts of the song’s moniker. Whilst not rocking the boat with fascinating lyrics they do not try and oversell the song’s story of the now ghostly relationship between the persona and the mysterious ‘you’ he refers to. By accentuating the music they do not get trapped in the realms of cliché. It is a formula that is not new, but sounds fresh because bands prioritise the singing these days. Interplay between themes, lyrics and instrumental is habitually arbitrary. The two remixes that accompany the original edit are just as listenable, and to an extent more spectral. The ‘Sunday Skipping Dub Remix’ is a stand out success.
4/5
Words: John Elmes
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