Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The world has not only lost its way, it could be argued that in its madness it has taken us all hostage and yet with no hope of a ransom being paid, it slowly, and surly, finds ways to grind us down, we escape in a fantasy to combat the emotional turmoil we feel and we stare at screen all day in the hope it brings us respite and hope of escape. It is not the fault of some all-powerful, non-existent Matrix, it is the way we have allowed ourselves to be conditioned, we are reactive, not proactive enough, and we have lost the ability to be Wide Awake And Waiting to strike home at those who would have us all in pens.
Nashville, like Liverpool, is a place of direction when it comes to music and the insightful meaning that flows through its historic veins and for Palm Ghosts that history is one that runs with maximum sincerity, an attuned sense of pleasure grinding away in every heartbeat, and one that captures the surreal and haunting flavour of their reasoning in their new E.P., Wide Awake And Waiting.
Songs that make your heart skip a beat and leave a mountain range of goose bumps on your skin can be quite common after all it shows a deep connection with a listener that few would dispute and yet tracks that shake your soul are rarely discussed, perhaps for fear of rejection, or just because they are misunderstood by those who refuse to stay awake.
The connection though between listener and artist in the six songs that make up this new E.P. is one of insistent electricity, a bound discovery aching to be explored, and the tracks Kill The Buzz, Tell Me Why, Lorelei, Sparks Kiss The Winter, The Party’s Over and the E.P. title track, Wide Awake And Waiting, engage and resonate with beautiful fragility that beguiles the strength of purpose of the depths to which we must fight in order to be heard and taken notice of.
Wide awake, we stand on the edge of twin emotions, one of recognising what we have wrought in the name of progress, the other the honesty which we must confront and accept if we are to grow beyond the sleep deprivation and lies we have been forced to feed upon. Thanks to Palm Ghosts and the dreamy pop they inhabit, we can now take action and be more than just a presence in our dreams.
Palm Ghosts release the E.P. Wide Awake And Waiting on February 7th.
Ian D. Hall