Die Geister Beschwören - Ghosts, This Is Survival

Released: June 7

Ghosts, This Is Survival is a whirlwind of blended genres that features an absolutely incredible number of instruments used in its production. There is quite literally everything you could imagine here including guitars, sitars, field recordings, glockenspiel, pedal steel, basses, drums and even a musical saw plus the bonus of folksy sounding vocals. Even with a few full-length listens, it's near impossible to break down everything that's going on here. So that's something I won't even attempt to do here. Instead, I just want to explore the album in its broadest strokes to prevent getting lost in the weeds of this complex album. 

There are technically six tracks here, but the are presented as two sides of the same tape. Each set of three songs blends seamlessly into the next, giving the impression that they are a continuation of the previous. The first side starts out with sparse guitars and a bit of background chatter that slowly dies down as the guitars find their prominence in the mix, echoing from delicate and purposeful finger picking that slowly becomes a melody all its own. Starting out with wistful tones and harmonious humming, things continue to shift until the folk influence fades in favor of a deeper blues and western influence. At around the midpoint, things that a bit more of a rock and even include some turntable work as well. It's really odd and feels like it clashes hard at first, until the remainder of the sounds join in and we get some smooth horns joining in something that feels more swing than anything else with a side of jazz thrown in. It's really an eclectic blend that has to be heard to be understood. 

The second side takes things in a much different direction. While the first had a more energetic and maybe even festive atmosphere, this side slows things all the way down. Much of the second half comes across as much more ambient in nature with some interesting influences sprinkled in for good measure. It begins with eerie and mournful sounds of a slowly finger picked guitar and is joined by a a wonderfully played electric slide guitar that has heavy delta blues vibes. But as the guitars fade into the distance, they are replaced by twisted sounds of synths and other strange atmospherics that coalesces into a huge swell of noise that transitions to the final piece of the album - a return to some of the gentle finger picks and softly sung vocals that the album started with in the beginning. Thus ending this incredible and wide-spanning music experience.