US indie/alt-rock maverick Love Ghost (Finnegan Bell) and Swedish industrial music legend Tim Skold (SKOLD, Shotgun Messiah, KMFDM, Marilyn Manson, Motionless in White) have teamed up to make a collaborative album, ‘Love Ghost x SKOLD’, that presents a mix of alternative, indie, industrial and grunge rock.
The album properly kicks off with ‘Nightshade And Cocaine’ a part spoken word / sung oration shared over a tribal drum beat and off-key piano with guitar riffs joining. An introspective melancholic musing about trying to escape the pain and drudgery of life through a poison associated with witchcraft and class a drug. We have a ska / reggae rapped offering with `Great White Buffalo` which appears to be a term for “the one that got away” or “first love”.
`You Are the Gun (Valhalla)` is a slow burn with lyrics that seem to reflect on a feeling of being with someone who makes you feel like being in Valhalla, a place of honour, glory, or happiness possibly heaven. There`s a further slow-moving arrangement in `Cemetery` which again reflects on relationships and their impact on the subject of the number.
`The Star of the Show` rolls along with a synthy almost EBM vibe which becomes fairly hypnotic while `Spacedust` is fairly ethereal with lyrics that equate a deep relationship to be unlike all others indeed particles of space in a vast solar system.
`Hold On` although quite melancholic has a fairly positive message to share and veers off with musical forays on route. Thee`s an understated rock sensibility to `Ski Mask` which is pretty wistful and feels at times as if its about to explode but reigns itself in. I read that the track captures a journey through emotional upheaval, dealing with personal struggles like overmedication and societal collapse.
`The Heavy Weight` is another synth-tinged composition that may refer to a person or thing that is important or serious. Another track that felt controlled or restrained. There was a kind of delicacy to `Payback` but with an underlying sense of revenge or retaliation lying close to the surface.
`Level Up` is literally about increasing something in order to remove a disparity and this submission has a fundamental notion of menace about it. The album closes with `Less than Zero` which possibly touches on or explores the theme of struggling with self-love and its consequences.
‘Love Ghost x SKOLD’ is an album that I’m sure will need a few listens before it`ll seep into your subconscious with lyrical content that could have a number of interpretations.
Rating 8/10
