We'll move on from 'I Am Soyuz' to another songwriter who is releasing a debut EP, although in this case the EP actually comes out today, which makes us almost relevant for once. 'A Choir of Ghosts' is another Swedish artist, and his music is inspired by the beautiful natural surroundings of Northern Sweden and his release of 5 tracks includes his previously issued tracks 'Morning Light' and 'Ester' which came out back in 2016.
Behind 'A Choir of Ghosts' is the singer songwriter James Auger, and the most immediate thing that strikes me about this collection of songs is just how good his voice is, but here the folk influence extends more to the storytelling aspect of music, and 'Woods' is a great example - launching straight into the story of him walking through the forests of Norrland and coming across the machines ripping out the trees from their home. But there is a rich complexity to the instrumental arrangements also, after the acoustic guitar and vocal opening additional instruments are added, the rhythmic drumming adds intensity and then we're offered a gradual crescendo of sound with violin, it's really cleverly constructed.
'Ester' was previously released, and here it's the lyrics that I'm particularly drawn to - ''We can talk, we can walk, we can sleep in the rain.... but for what, for you to walk away, like before'' - there is something really poetic about his phrasing that makes them real and believable. 'Morning Light' has a traditional sounding acoustic opening, and then offers a lovely melancholy melody which I like, whilst the vocal duet is perfectly delivered, when often duets like this leave me quite cold for some reason. 'Saint' offers a string arrangement which gently carries the track through, even though the music and lyrics don't hit home as much as the earlier songs, whilst 'Outside the Window' (recorded live) is an appealing song with a country folk influence, a big chorus and soft harmonies.
This is 'Woods', which I think is probably my favourite song:
So 'Woods' is a well written EP from 'A Choir of Ghosts' where I've enjoyed listening to the words as much as the melodies, and it's available today through Spotify / Apple Music etc.
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