The Last Ghost New Album Release – ‘Tiny Raptures’

‘Tiny Raptures’ was recorded at The Last Ghost HQ (Musician Craig Higgins’ studio bedroom) between July and October of this year. This is the follow-up to his previous album, ‘The Death of Everything which was released In July this year; and is the fourth album by The Last Ghost. As with all previous released, this album is self-produced and recorded.

I was lucky enough to get the chance to chat to Craig, AKA, The Last Ghost to get the inside brief on the new album:

Tiny Raptures is due for release on 29th October – what can you tell me about it?

‘’It’s my 4th album (the first was released just over a year ago) and like the other 3, I wrote and recorded it at home. It’s my favourite album so far and I am really excited for it be out there for folk to hear.’’

How does this latest album differ from your previous releases?

‘’I think the songs this time are more direct and simple compared to previous albums. I made a conscious effort this time to take a more song-based approach where the songs have more space than before. I tried to avoid layering up lots of extravagant textures and harmonies but they do still appear here and there. There is also a lot more acoustic guitar and guitars in general compared to the last album I also think there are some good contradictions on the album with some light-hearted sounding songs that have some deceptively dark lyrics.

I hope that 4 albums in now, I am getting better at producing and recording and importantly playing the instruments. I still don’t see myself as a musician but someone who did some singing in bands back in the day winging it in the studio.’’

Who or what are your main influences?

‘’My favourite eras of music are 60s, 70s and 90s. I don’t have a huge breadth of musical tastes much to my great shame. I have maybe 20 bands that I listen to obsessively and still worship the likes of Pink Floyd, The Beatles, The Who from back in the day through to bands like My Morning Jacket, Supergrass and Weller from slightly less back in the day.

Other influences I think appear in my music are film soundtracks from the 70s like John Carpenter’s classics. I also love the concept of building up songs from loops in the way that people like Ice T and Beastie Boys would have in the 90s’’

For anyone not yet familiar with The Last Ghost, how would you best describe your sound?

‘’It’s hard for me to say really as there is such a mix of things on the records. I rarely stick to a single genre or sound on an album which I think can sometimes be detrimental because my albums will jump between electronic Instrumental music to upbeat rock to lo-fi acoustic. I have thought about trying to create albums with a single musical theme or genre, but they seem to go off on tangents and become something a bit mixed up and all over the place. I think this can be a strength too though.’’

Spotify – The Last Ghost

As a solo artist, do you need to bounce ideas off other artists, or do you prefer working alone?

‘’I was in serious bands with friends from way back in 1996 and on and off on part-time musical projects with the same group of friends to this day. I still love working that way on music and collaborating and connecting. If I was a youngster again, I’d rather be making music with these great friends because we can more or less read each other’s minds and playing with them can be the most uplifting feeling possible. Life gets in the way as we get older I guess and it becomes harder to get everyone together in the same room much of the time.

I was lucky enough to have Alan Grierson (who I have enjoyed many great musical adventures with since 1996) play some guitar on an album track this time around (Holding Tightly) and I am hopefully having a few other musical brothers appear on the next album. Alan has two solo EPs out too in the past few months and is an incredible songwriter.

For the time being, solo music is an enjoyable adventure so I will keep doing my best and hopefully keep improving.’’