Gravenhurst – The Ghost In Daylight

Releasedate: 30-04-2012; Label: Warp/v2
By: Martine Goffard

“The Ghost In Daylight” is the 5th album of the English songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Nick Talbot under his project Gravenhurst. Talbot describes his work as made of disparate ingredients and I can only agree that this word “disparate” is the one that qualifies the best his music.

From the beginning, you can notice that this album will be very limited in the use of instruments. It all oscillates between the singer voice and the acoustic guitar. The synthesizer and the drums are only a background sound. These last ones arrive progressively on the first track but the drums tend to disappear along the album. The music is relaxing, slow, half retro, half psychedelic. Talbot’s voice is barely audible on the first song Circadian, as if he was half asleep on his mike, but gets clearer and enjoyable on the rest of the album. The real problem with the Ghost In Daylight is that all is extremely boring. It’s obvious that Talbot is a talented player. The refine music he produces with an acoustic guitar has been meticulously arranged and can only touch your sensibility. Fitzrovia or The Foundry are good examples of this pure and sad atmosphere. Now, the music has too much rhythm to be tragic and concentrates its effects on the contemplative. Still, some songs are far too long and as they turn on the same few notes, it’s repetitive ad nauseam. The only way to enjoy it is to use this album as a background music for any relaxing activity or as a sedative. You will hear only the pleasant parts as it never really captures your attention and let you drift back in your thoughts at some point.

Line up:
Nick Talbot

Tracklist: 01 Circadian 02 The Prize 03 Fitzrovia 04 In Miniature 05 Carousel 06 Islands 07 The Foundry 08 Peacock 09 The Ghost Of Saint Paul 10 Three Fires

Links:
Gravenhurst Facebook