Listen to the latest release from Starving Ghosts via our friends at Bored Coast Records.
Matt Carter
JE Sheehy continues his prolific outpouring of music by delivering another release from his ambient/soundscape project Starving Ghosts, his third since the project’s January 2017 debut.
On Starving Ghosts III, Sheehy delves deeper into mood and context resulting in longer, more exploratory compositions than on his previous two releases. The EP features three tracks with a total running time of just over 30 minutes.
“I was definitely aiming to capture a general mood before capturing a specific feeling or moment in my life,” he said. “For example, Summer, is definitely about the pre-Summer nostalgia and expectations which come with the first nice days outside.”
Sheehy recently gave his first performance as Starving Ghosts for a live taping as part of The Capital web series, a music documentary currently in production by Raynemaker Productions. He credits the experience for contributing to the length of these tracks and for contributing to the project’s textual growth.
“That was the first time I ever performed one of my improvisations in front of anyone else,” he said. “It definitely made me more comfortable to just get into a zone and not think about the timer, but to explore something thoroughly and naturally. I think the fact that this is my third release also gives it a bit more maturity in the sense that I have a better idea of which direction to give to my tracks. Plus, being from a punk/singer songwriter background, it’s very cool to hit the spot where I can take my time to explore a mood, a feeling or an idea, instead of rushing it in 2 or 3 minutes.
“And because of the improvised nature of Starving Ghosts, it definitely takes more time to dive into things,” said Sheehy. “I can trace back every song to a specific feeling or mood I might have, but it’s great to be able to let it out as I’m not just exploring a mental state of mind, but also a melodic idea.”
The opening track, pis t’es arrivée en même temps que le printemps, is a crescendo of synth layers that deliver subtle, bright melodic shifts through a wash of sound before receding in volume and complexity. The EP returns to darker territory for the second track before engaging the listener in a 16 minute coda that is possibly the least melancholic Starving Ghosts composition to date. Overall, the EP plays out like a sonic postcard from a well-deserved vacation.
Starving Ghosts III is the third in a four part series through which Sheehy has been exploring his relationship with each passing season. SPOILER ALERT – it’s safe to assume a fourth EP will eventually surface later this year.
“It’s totally a cliché and it sounds lame, but on each of the EPs I have been looking into my relationship with winter, spring and now summer,” he said. “Starving Ghosts keeps challenging me in writing music and taking me in new directions, so I love this [seasonal] approach, and also the fact that I will put a final period on the current series.”
