In close quarters to the release of a seriously captivating debut album in Songs For The Fragile Collective, Skylephant have the I Am The Ghost EP ready to tantalise ears and lure the imagination. With its lead track taken from that critically acclaimed full-length it is a mighty teaser of that triumph but also an inescapable invitation for newcomers into the unique world of the UK project.
Skylephant is the solo project of singer/songwriter/ musician Mark Applin, an artist who locked “locks himself away in his small home studio for three and a half years, to pour himself into an album of self-penned songs.” It was a ‘solitude’ which bore a striking encounter and now a just as irresistible EP.
I Am The Ghost opens up with its title track, the song gently introducing itself with a harmonic sigh, melancholy and a sense of loneliness wrapping its opening melody. The coaxing intensifies as keys and enthralling vocal intimacy lend their magnetism to the blossoming track. Like a shadow in the shadows, Applin’s vocals continue to entrance as potently as the web of just as sadly pensive sounds around him, it all leading to a similarly calm but addictively infectious chorus. The track is superb, an enthralling and haunting twilight to happiness and isolation.
Home Alone follows; its sepia harmonies and sighs a familiar caress before electronic animation breeds a seduction of voice and melody. Once more there is an instinctive catchiness working away within the synth pop serenade, that sense of loneliness as much a kiss on thoughts and senses as a venture into sadness. Even more haunting than its predecessor, the song swiftly spellbound ears and imagination before departing on an emotive shimmer of an echo for its successor to step forward.
The EP’s final song is the Johnny T Remix of She’s Alright, another offering originally from within Songs For The Fragile Collective and a song which with a mere breath is infecting feet and body
with its contagion loaded enterprise. Already a rapaciously infectious proposal, the new take leads it straight onto the dance-floor with an eighties fuelled rapture in its eager motion and lively animation.
The sound and songs of Skylephant are one of the most individual propositions out there. Applin with his heart bred and fully rounded songwriting does have something of Colin Vearncombe (Black) about him and the pop catchiness of his tracks remind a little of that conjured back in the day by Paul Haig but his own uniqueness is what makes Skylephant simply an essential pleasure.
The I Am The Ghost EP is released August 16th via Musical Bear Records across most stores.
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Pete RingMaster 16/08/2019
Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright
In Your Face comes with a steadier gait after but even in its shimmering sway there is a zeal and energy keen to break out which it does in another contagion of a chorus, the song’s seductive pop increasingly volatile and riveting before Naked uncages its alternative rock devilment like a pop infested Blood Red Shoes. With a rock ‘n’ roll shaped heart the track quickly builds its own character and grinning escapade to be unique Dollyrots.
Equally there is a new hue to the Arcade Messiah sound, a lighter multi-flavoured flume of melodic imagination and contagious hookery which comes with something of a KingBathmat lining but one which colludes with and enhances rather than defuses the established progressive shadow haunted explorations of Bassett’s project. Its first three albums and their union as Trilogy in 2017 provided a cathartic venture for the imagination within a kaleidoscope of suggestive sounds for ears. Hell By Default is no different yet with its broader palette of enterprise is a bold new trail of exploration for Arcade Messiah.
The EP opens with the swiftly irresistible Uncertain Purpose, a track which teased and hooked ears and appetite from its slightly manic opening alone. Quickly it hit its infectious swing, guitars and rhythms a feral incitement within and the dissonance of all glorious elements mischievous. The vocals of Cheung add to the devilment of the track’s contagious trespass as hooks and grooves collude in creative delinquency. It proves a rousing slice of grunge punk with a great Asylums-esque character placing a quick and firm grip on best track honours though its briefness does prove a frustration if one soon defused by the tracks to follow.
Day After Day follows, bursting from the speakers with relish as swinging rhythms collude with sonic and melodic tenacity. Its spirit and energy never dips across another stretch of alluring enterprise, McSimon steering the adventure in voice and craft, and even in the moment of relative calm there is a vigour which prevails. With a solo which just beguiled, the ear gripping track makes way for the equally magnetic It’s Time to Go, a song with a dark lining to its drama and melodic intimacy to its creative narrative. As within its predecessors, keys add another compelling and tantalising ingredient to keenly devour.
The second track similarly had attention and instincts alive with its rhythmic introduction alone, bold tenacious beats a tribal intimation within the suggestive sonic vegetation that surround them. With body and imagination swiftly enslaved, McLarnon’s ever siren tones warmly caress as the song expands its scenically melodic emprise while the alternating blend of the duo’s voices only adds to the cinematic lure and enticing climate of the exceptional encounter.
The following Get Out Alive rises with a similar recipe of flavours but quickly sets out its individual character woven on melody, aggression, and eager imagination. As its predecessor, its infectious breath and moves are at odds with but the perfect companion to raw ferocity; again a union which attacks and seduces within a stirring tapestry of sound and texture.