Ghostpoet – Trouble + Me

On ‘Immigrant Boogie’, the first taste of Ghostpoet’s superbly titled upcoming new album ‘Dark Days + Canapés’, Obaro Ejimiwe weaved a tale of an immigrant sailing across the seas, hoping for a better life. It doesn’t end too well though, as the refugee is cast out to sea, unable to swim, wondering what will happen to his wife and children. ‘Immigrant Boogie’ set the tone for what we could probably expect from ‘Dark Days + Canapés’. On new track ‘Trouble + Me’, Obaro digs further into the sense of unease that’s been brought about by the unstable and often chaotic contemporary political and social climate. Whereas ‘Immigrant Boogie’ was direct in its exploration of the refugees’ plight though, this new cut sees Ghospoet moving back into slightly more ambiguous territory lyrically, talking about people who “slowly lose control” and harbouring the echoing line of “I feel it all the time”. Obaro is never crystal clear about what “it” is, and although the fragments of detail he gives can point you in the direct, the slightly amorphous picture he presents mirrors a sense of general disquiet in the soul. But the general tone of the track sums up the discontent perfectly. Like with 2015’s ‘Shedding Skin’, it’s a dive into more guitar-driven melodies, scaling back the post-punk bluster of ‘Immigrant Boogie’ to contemplative refrains and dusty percussion that gradually builds up in intensity as the gloominess grows. Ghostpoet has always managed to conjure a distinctive atmosphere with his music, and ‘Trouble + Me’ might be the pinnacle of that craft.