Simian Ghost To Release Mini-Album ‘Lovelorn’ On November 14th
Monday, 05 September 2011
Written by Rhys Morgan
Swedish chillwave/electro troupe Simian Ghost are the intelligent pop brainchild of Aerial’s Sebastian Arnström. They released their debut album, 'Infinite Traffic Everywhere', in Sweden during the winter of 2010 to great enthusiasm and critical acclaim. It topped the critics chart in Sweden and was voted record of the year by the readers at Dagensskiva.se. In 2011 Simian Ghost, a live trio, have toured Sweden and have already shared stages with the likes of Mount Kimbie, SBTRKT and Niki and the Dove to name a few.
Their first UK release is the seven song mini-album, entitled 'Lovelorn', issued through the increasingly influential Heist Or Hit Records (The Answering Machine, LoveLikeFire, Letting Up Despite Great Faults). In the same vein as their debut, the record is written, recorded and produced by Sebastian Arnström: "The initial ambition was to make an EP, consisting exclusively of electronic material", Sebastian explains, "a collection of songs all conceived in my messy living room, very DIY, even more so than the last record I guess. It’s the kind of stuff I do when I get home from work, or from rehearsal, personal stuff. The song Gently Submissive, for example, has a very soft quality to it, mainly because I recorded it in the middle of the night, and I didn't want to wake up the neighbours. I really find that nice, when very tangible stuff like that creeps into the music. In the end, it all comes down to the fact that I need to keep myself occupied to avoid full on neurosis".
Simian Ghost’s work is very referential and varied in style, but still it has flow and continuity to it, making it a solid listening experience in its entirety. "Infinite Traffic... was in many ways a comment on the music I've grown up with, and this ('Lovelorn') a comment on music I've been exposed to more recently". The stylish sound varies from mid 80's electro-pop, to shoegaze and the reverb drenched soundscapes of the chill wave generation, whilst the whole time focused on strong melodies and vocal experimentation. "I have been doing this stuff for quite some time", Sebastian continues, "it's like musical collages, songs that are remixes of themselves. It's a fun way to write music. And I think I even got some Beach Boys in there this time". A little M83 in places and a little Active Child in others, but as a rule of thumb, Simian Ghost crafts a sound all of his/their own.
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