Now based in Austin, Texas, Spirit Ghost is the project of Alex Whitelaw, who has been making garage and surf-rock inflected songs since the early 2010s. Back in August we wrote about ‘No Future’ one of two singles Spirit Ghost released last year, a slice of pandemic pessimism dressed up with a sunny indie pop pep, full of easy-going melodies and infectious guitar.
2023 promises to be another busy year for the project, who have wasted no time in kicking off with another new single. Titled ‘Walk Back’, it’s yet another example of Whitelaw’s knack for writing breezy pop songs with more than enough left-field flourishes to appeal to the cool kids. He is joined by Tim Zoidis (guitar), JB Bergin (bass) and Billy Hickey (drums), the quartet coming together to create something that feels both slick and somehow volatile, an erratic energy sparking through the whole thing like an electric current.
This sense of vim and vigour plays nicely into the single’s themes—namely the joy in breaking free of the mundane shackles of everyday life. “‘Walk Back’ is about coming back to life after feeling numb and used up by the week,” Whitelaw explains. “It’s about breaking free from the routine and having a cinematic experience in your day to day life.”
The sentiment is also captured nicely in the video, animated by Christian Monaghan, which sees a little cartoon ghost escape from a dreary storehouse to explore the outside world, where he flies through blue skies and trips on a psychedelic mushroom. Check it out below:
‘Walk Back’ is out now and available from the Spirit Ghost Bandcamp page.