After releasing his debut – the Sweet Boy EP – and three standalone singles in 2018, as well as a packed touring schedule including the inaugural It Takes A Village festival, Matthew Corrigan’s solo project Ghostking is Dead returns with a new EP, ‘This Is Doubt’, on Hausu. Following the trajectory of his musical evolution, ‘This Is Doubt’ sees Corrigan experimenting with new forms within his songs.This EP draws from the difficulties of the year’s work so far, the physical and emotional price of the work, and the pressure of creating newer, groundbreaking work despite having a huge number of songs written by age 20.
‘This Is Doubt’ is a weaving entanglement of mind melting bliss filled with mysterious wobbling structures and electronic sounds blended between warm synths, infectious melodies and hip hop flavours. A new rendition of an earlier Bandcamp single ‘Tokyo’ which is a song about re-creating and changing identities creates the smooth cruising tone of the EP. A gentle slapping beat gloops between subtle electronics creating that immersing dark atmosphere that beautifully surrounds Corrigan’s deep vocals. The glorious melodies are presented in a lavish lounge bar manner with the ethereal electronics building in the background swirling and caressing your ears in rich textures and weaving soundscapes. There is a jazz element sprinkled along the tracks with ‘Hollow’ showcasing this most fluidly. With a hip hop feature and spoken lyrics this track brings confidence and attitude into the spacey EP. There is rich depth and moody vibes smeared throughout however, Corrigan balances this perfectly with a touch of soul, slick smoothness and steamy grooves. ‘Burn Out’ glides and sweetly twinkles along cooing vocals and buoyant guitars. The atmosphere floats and wisps about the dreamy background and catchy melody. This melody at times swaggers with a Justin Timberlake suaveness yet maintains and drives through on the Ghostking is Dead stamp. The immense sulky brooding sultriness continues with ‘Its Over’. With vocal whines of depression and glumness between a fabulous enchanting guitar injection and glistening synths – Corrigan pines and almost howls over the steamy guitar and steady rhythms to create the perfect sobbing material. ‘How Did I Get Here?’ brings us to an emotional and fiery end to the EP. Organ chords give an erratic spookie sense of misery as the anguish filled vocals exclaim over a groove infested backdrop that verges on a slow form of reggae- like beats and striking keys which venture into a sort of ethnic style.
‘This Is Doubt’ is a unique collection of enthralling and enchanting tracks filled with rich rhythms, deep meanings and expressive vocals. There is something quite mesmerising about each track – it almost places you in a trance – entirely of Ghostking is Dead’s creation.
Stream ‘This Is Doubt’ below
