Olivia Jean - Raving Ghost

Though Detroit’s Olivia Jean might have frequented headlines most recently after marrying long-term mentor and Third Man label boss Jack White following an impromptu on-stage proposal last year, the musician’s canon of gothic garage rock is one that’s been building for over a decade now. ‘Raving Ghost’ - her third solo LP - acts as a comprehensive tour through the backwaters of ‘60s rock’n’roll (‘Fun’), melodrama (‘Ditch’), evil electric guitar incantations (‘Spider’) and prowling heavy psych on its title track. Every reference here is from at least 40 years ago (it is not hard to see what the newlyweds have in common), but across ‘Raving Ghost’ Jean treats the past like a delicious pick’n’mix from which to guzzle from. Don’t believe us? Just listen to ‘Orinoco Flow’, which takes Enya’s gauzy classic and reimagines it like a Runaways-style sassy anthem. Across its 11 tracks, ‘Raving Ghost’ finds impressive variety and fun: less a haunted relic of the past, and more a Halloweeny romp through it.