Songs From The Ghost Light is a companion release to Tim Bowness’s Inside Out label albums, Abandoned Dancehall Dreams (2014), Stupid Things That Mean The World (2015) and this years wonderful Lost In The Ghost Light.
The 34 minute mini-album is available in limited quantities on CD & vinyl from Burning Shed, and as a download from Tim’s Bandcamp page.
Stupid Things That Mean The World (chamber version) is a stark re-imagining of the 2015 track. Stripped of the albums guitar and drums, piano and strings underpin the vocals, which have a dollop of extra reverb added, making this version a very different beast. A disturbing alternative synth line adds tension to the middle section of the song.
The live version of The Warm-Up Man Forever (the studio version appears on Abandoned Dancehall Dreams) features a stunning drum performance from Andrew Booker and a wonderful Experiment IV-like guitar line from Michael Bearpark. As an advert for the Tim Bowness live shows, the non-studio cuts on Songs From The Ghost Light do their job.
No Longer The One is a reworked, much less proggy version of the Henry Fool rarity Pills in the Afternoon. A more expansive guitar line and a richer arrangement and production take one of Tim’s finest hidden pieces to new heights. Its my favourite track on this mini-album.
Some T-bo trivia – No Longer The One was lyrically altered to work with the Moonshot / Jeff Harrison story. Expect an angry tweet from the ageing old Putin worhsipping Moonshotter soon!
Once A Record is a mutated piece of mellotron madness built from The Great Electric Teenage Dream. Whispers, off-kilter and digitally twisted vocals and dark electronics bubble under the surface of a track that would not have sounded out-of-place on David Bowie’s 1. Outside.
Next up is a live version of The Great Electric Teenage Dream. The version on Songs From The Ghost Light is faithful to the times I have heard the song live at recent Bowness shows. Its a powerful performance, with brutal guitar lines.
The polar opposite is The Sweetest Bitter Pill (chamber version). I prefer this take to the version previously released in 2014. Strings and mid-70s sounding lead synth lines push the songs melody to the fore.
The final live song is Abandoned Dancehall Dreams Dancing For You. One of Tim’s saddest songs of nostalgia and regret, Dancing For You is presented here in a moving live performance. A fine synth solo from Stephen Bennett drives the song to its conclusion.
Giancarlo Erra (Nosound/Memories Of Machines) contributes piano to the album’s closing track Lost In The Ghost Light (giallo), as well as mixing and mastering the album. Kit Watkins adds flute and ‘Heartbeat’ percussion to the discordant re-birth of what was already the most menacing piece on this years wonderful Lost In The Ghost Light album.
“Is there more?”
No Longer The One, The Sweetest Bitter Pill (chamber version) and Lost In The Ghost Light (giallo) actually surpass their original incarnations as far as I am concerned. Songs From The Ghost Light works well as a companion to Tim’s successful Inside Out era albums, making you return to the originals whilst working well as an album in its own right.
Stupid Things That Mean The World (chamber version)
The Warm-Up Man Forever (live)
No Longer The One
Once A Record
The Great Electric Teenage Dream (live)
The Sweetest Bitter Pill (chamber version)
Dancing For You (live)
Lost In The Ghost Light (giallo)
Buy the CD and vinyl from Burning Shed
Buy the Download from Tim’s Bandcamp page
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