We’re happy to premiere the track “Ghost” from Laveda, the talented duo that impressed last year with “Dream. Sleep.” That effort showed a fondness for shoegaze-friendly textures, and an overall dreamy pull. “Ghost” succeeds with a similarly gripping sound during its swelling, guitar-based sections. Ali Genevich’s vocals impress during the heavier section, book-ended by lusher dream-pop vocal displays from Jake Brooks. 02:56 is a particularly resonating payoff, with fuzzy guitars complementing emotive vocals with an alluring fervency. Genevich and Brooks again impress with this track, emphasizing the band’s knack for both successful dream-pop and shoegaze-forward forays.
The release of “Ghost” also marks the official announcement for Laveda’s debut album, What Happens After, releasing on vinyl on April 24th. The band elaborates more on “Ghost” below:
“The overdubbed guitars recorded with Dylan Sky at Hook & Fade became a big factor,” says Jake. “The different saturations all happening at once (panned wide) contribute to the huge, crushing feel.”
Creating “Ghost” opened the door to the heavier rock/shoegaze sound that Laveda worked to harness throughout the rest of the record. “It was the song that invented our sound,” says Ali. “If we had never written it I don’t think the rest of the record would sound the way that it does. It felt obvious and just right to make it the first track on the LP because it laid the foundation for all our other songs.”
The idea for the words for “Ghost” came one night when Ali and Jake were flushing out vocal melodies. “The lyrics are based on a real-life experience I had when I was about 13 or 14,” recalls Ali. “I was at a close friend’s house for a sleepover and her mom had a seizure. It was definitely a little traumatic. I can pretty much remember the sequence of events and everything that happened like it was only last week.”
The lyrics touch on how things can quickly turn grey when you’re least expecting it. It’s about letting your instincts take over as if your mind has shut down and your body is just doing things without you even telling it to.
Awesome!