You loved their 2018 debut, Yesterday and the Day Before, quickly consumed their immaculate 2021 follow-up, …to that place you call home, and waited patiently for Roam Like Ghosts’ next collection of energetic, atmospheric, acoustic-y alternative/Americana (labeled jokingly – but accurately – as “Emoacana”). Well, my friends, your patience pays dividends: This powerful indie/country-leaning trio returns with their latest work, the urgently more introspective album, CHURCH. Ready to groove to the Ghosts’ new collection of powerful, plaintive, and reflective rock? Let’s hit the highlights.
Wait. Who does what?
The band is back, and they brought a little help:
Mathew Daugherty – Vocals (resides in Northern Virginia)
Bobby DeRosa – Bass (resides in Northern Virginia)
Bucky Fairfax – Guitar (resides in North Carolina)
What’s the meaning behind “CHURCH?”
Per the band, CHURCH “delves deeper into themes of self-reflection, connection, and transformation. This new release expands on [our] acoustic foundation with atmospheric production and a diverse array of songs, drawing inspiration from indie and alternative genres as well as personal life experiences.”
What we’re digging (i.e., the highlights).
CHURCH kicks off with “Death and Me,” and the introduction is a big, slightly phasing harmony. Were we captivated, like, immediately? Eeeyep. The song moves to a rough and tumble rock and roll; its foundation a layer of acoustic and electric guitars, and a shimmering, sun-peeking slide. Mathew Daugherty’s vocals are strong, striving, and lived in; a soft, pure center surrounded by a thick, proudly bruised skin. Man, this is one hell of an opener. We are, in a word, hooked.
“The Weight” starts more subtly with acoustic guitar on top and electric guitar adding its scarred, subdermal roughness. Daugherty’s voice features a stronger vibrato here, a greater emotive catch as this mid-tempo track persists musically regardless of soul-disparaging obstacles (and I love his higher register calls during the song’s fourth quarter). Wow, this one is practically bleeding a personal lament.
“Futures” begins with a more reserved, purposely timid and innocent voice over sparkling acoustic guitar, light synth, and later, a supportive, unobtrusive drum beat. The sound here, the production, the separation – like the rest of the album – is all rather crystalline without neutering the bottom end, the results of teaming up with Producer/industry veteran Dick Hodgin (known for his work with Hootie & the Blowfish, Cravin’ Melon, and Corrosion of Conformity). “Futures” increases in power, in pain, and ends as the album’s greatest, most vulnerable and teeth-filled lament. EXCELLENT TRACK.
“Blame Game” is a light, glassy organ, an acoustic arpeggio, and a vocal passed through a fuzzy radio effect. And when the vocal arrives divested of distortion, the grand feelings already expressed gain a significant emotive boost. This one is subtle, spacious. The instruments exist in a perfect space, separate in detailed sound production but unified in song. And when this one ends, it’s like a surrender, like one’s decision to simply haunt this life, and not actually live it.
“Thumbelina” is toothy, dramatic, and assertive. It has a ballad-y slant, but a dark and absolutely rock-filled strength. The vocals are especially powerful as Daugherty stretches into a higher, more desperately delivered range. With supportive strings, gritty guitars, urgent choruses, and a softer final refrain of its two power-invoking chords, “Thumbelina” just became my favorite track.
The album ends with the instrumental “Somnumbra Atra,” and it’s reversed, reverb-washed notes, purposeful acoustic guitars, and distant chimes that further describe this peaceful aural space. And with the ending reached, the song – with its charming melody, wind-coaxed chiming, and perhaps amphibian gurgles – fades into the vast natural space from which it came.
But…is it actually good?
Call this a successful Roam Like Ghosts trifecta: CHURCH is not only another great Roam Like Ghosts album, it’s an evolution; it’s stronger in places and another lengthy stride in musical growth and maturity.
CHURCH is pain and frustration. CHURCH presents obstacles as teachers. CHURCH is spacious, Americana-glazed, sky-reaching indie rock that lives and succeeds through its own meaningful musical merits. CHURCH is the real, and real-feeling, deal, and I can’t praise this band’s output enough. If you’re looking for something catchy, authentic, urgent, electric, acoustic, and absolutely human-focused without the slightest bit of autotune or tinny, meatless overproduction, you’re going to love – and I mean LOVE – the latest from Roam Like Ghosts. Highly, highly, HIGHLY recommended.
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