Eternal Otter Records is happy to announce the newest band to join its roster- Anna's Ghost. Founded by Gabrielle Raymond and Ian Riley in the twilight months of 2006, the duo released a self-titled EP of chain-rattling, storm-churning folk that the Portland Phoenix named one of the best EP's of 2007.
However, that was only the beginning for Anna's Ghost, as they now stalk this realm as a doom cabaret four-piece. On Tuesday, they brought the haunting sounds of revolution to the Empire. Ian led their forward march as if he was the military drummer for an undead army. Jake Pike soldiered beside him on bass. Chris Moulton, famed of the Cambiata, let loose on his guitar like it was a gatling gun. At the heart of this maelstrom stood Gabrielle's bellowing lungs and plaintive melodies.
Taking a step back from my more visceral similes, Anna's Ghost walks in the same tradition as those dark masters of the 80s that managed to find common ground between fear and pop- Joy Division, The Cure, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. However, the sound has been refined and made more organic by drawing on the influences of Neutral Milk Hotel and the wave of fractured indie-folk that followed in the wake of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Whereas Joy Division's gloom seemed to come from the Industrial despair of a city choking on its own dying factories, the sound of Anna's Ghost appears rooted in Maine's ever lurking wilderness, buried beneath a catacomb of ice. Perhaps for that reason, their songs also offer a greater sense of redemption. I have more faith in Spring than an economic stimulus package any day.
Anyway, you'll soon have an opportunity to hear Anna's Ghost for yourself as Eternal Otter Record's will be releasing their first full-length sometime this Spring. It's going to be great. I should know, I've been listening to it non-stop for the last 3 days.
In the meantime, you can still order a copy of their EP here.
"I walk the hills until they bleed into the sky/ and the trees are monster shadows in my mind/ My legs grow weary from never getting tired/ the cold is here, it's creeping in our eyes."
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