Leave the light on for you

Another week, another tale of me finding something on my travels around the web. This is actually one I've had down on the list for a while but I hadn't done a search to see how easy it was to come by - which is pretty much why this post exists! On paper Ghostlight aren't an act that I'd cover here - billed as Indie / Dream pop on the discogs page there, and to be honest I wasn't really expecting to make a post of it either, I just liked the sound of a couple of the tunes that made their way into my recommended.

Not to be a genre puritan or anything - I can and have posted dream pop stuff here before - but Ghostlight are unique in that from what I've heard so far they often go in hard on the electronic front. This first track I've picked isn't perhaps the best example of that, but it is the one that introduced me to them - Fantasy Complex really grabbed me from the opening, appealing to that part of me that loves the Adult Swim style hip hop stuff and the chill side of the Silent Hill Soundtracks. That last comparison is pretty apt actually, when the indie side of Ghostlight comes through in the latter half, I can't help but get the same kind of feel that I do from the more indie sounding bits of Silent Hill 3's soundtrack - like End Of Small Sanctuary, just fused with a bit of a chillwave sensibility.



And from there it was just a matter of exploring more, the second track to really get my attention was this one - one of the few that are on Spotify as I looked to add some of these tunes my to my playlists. If the two, it's much more electronic - and very, very much of that early 10's indie scene. Not quite as hazy dreamy as Fantasy Complex though the distinctly quiet vocals remain. I picked a great time of year to check out their works, Mask is full of great little flourishes that compliment the sunnier turn that's happening for those of us in the northern hemisphere at the moment. My absolute favourite of which is those gorgeous keys coming in after the break at around 1:50, deliciously sweet but not in an overly cloying way which can be a pitfall for tunes like this.



And finally, a bit of a left turn. Ghostlight have a couple of compilations too which have a whole host of their artist friends on there too. It's here that discoveries like this really shine, as I've said so many times recently I went through a couple of months of picking up compilations here and there just because they often give you a massive injection of variety in one go, and the C/C compilations are no different - going from full on Ambient and IDM numbers to stuff more in line with Ghostlight's indie style. Enter Fabric 70's Take Me Somewhere Nice which is not a cover of Mogwai despite the name. It wastes no time getting right into the thick of things and letting you know exactly what you're in for - a sparkling indie/electronic number full of glittering synths and a very obviously House-inspired beat. I'm very in love with it at the minute (and once again my bias shows with that slight autotune on sections of the vocals, of which my weakness for is well documented)



It might not be for everyone, but I've liked this little jaunt. The Fabric 70 tune in particular, introducing me to some nostalgia I didn't even know I had, giving me mad flashbacks to the poppy electro of Shinichi Osawa's The One - tracks like Dreamhunt are in that same kind of groove. Most of Ghostlight's stuff is Pay what you want on the bandcamp page, but the two C/C comps are also 100% free downloads so definitely look them up if you're feeling what I've put up here! Though it looks like they've been inactive for a while, there's plenty in their discography to look at in the meantime - I know I plan to.

And as always - stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF