For anyone who has inhabited a parallel musical universe for the past few months Cherry Ghost, named after a Wilco song, are the latest outfit to hail from the musical Mecca that is Bolton. The debut album from Simon Aldred and his elite squadron of musicians is released on the Heavenly label. This thoughtful mix of indie, blues, folk and rock was years in conception but weeks in the making. It was recorded in a bungalow based on the Motown studio in the Wirral with Jimi Goodwin and Edgar Jones helping out. Like everyone else new to this emergent band I have been eagerly awaiting the long player; a succession of proper songs about ‘rain splattered souls.’
The opener gives you a flavour of Aldred’s humanity tales set to country blues. ‘I still thirst for romance and the sand between my toes. I see demons dance across factory floors,’ he croons over swelling instrumentation that brings a lump to your throat. ‘4am’ is a lilting upbeat country crooner worthy of Willie Nelson if he took the last bus home while ‘Mountain Bird,’ is the crashing sound of Motown. He doesn’t stint on evocative imagery which is illustrated by his astute lyricism. ‘Roses,’ help him to pretend blushing brides and cosmonauts don’t meet their bitter end. On this track dominant vocals and simple keys build towards the denouement where ‘gods assassins rode back into town and paved the way upon the cold, cold ground,’ over the sound of an engine shuddering to a halt.
Then we come to the singles. ‘Mathematics’ tells us of ‘peacocks on the chopping block,’ with a besotting glockenspiel and string mixture that could well introduce the Cocteau Twins. Euphoric chimes and searing vocals bring new life to a good old-fashioned crooner. The follow up ‘People Help the People,’ is no disappointment. There are less fancy musical flourishes in the simple plea for the ‘hard faces queens of misadventure’ to love their neighbours. ‘If you’re homesick give me a hand and I’ll hold it,’ he pleads.
Marching band percussion accompanies ‘Dead Man’s Suit,’ which paints more mental pictures for the listener; a beautiful girl wrapped in black icy curls and a woman who loves like an ocean. While ‘Mary on the Mend,’ is an eight and a half minute torch song about a three-time divorcee. It’s a tale of a burned out estate full of bones that don’t mend where the kids roll down the walls like paint. With typical candour the all out rocker ‘Alfred The Great’ is based on a Stevie Smith poem but also on his granddad.
His influences include Sparklehorse, and Daniel Johnston and an immediate comparison would be Richard Hawley but there are traces of Johnny Cash too. At times acoustic guitars sound like banjos. Orchestral strings vie with crashing keyboards. A huge bass and drum sound incorporates muffled electronic effects. The result is a mutation of understated folk, bluesy rock, orchestral strings and shameless driving eighties melodies.
It’s a piece of work that reeks of hope. Lacking in raging pop star ego, Aldred tells his Chekovian tales of human fallibility with a nice turn of phrase. Misfits, fuck ups, kids and old folk all get the Cherry Ghost treatment. The ability to touch people by telling ugly truths beautifully never goes out of style thankfully.
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