Brisbane band, Daylight Ghosts have been tantalizing you with singles since 2020. Comprised of musicians Adam Dawe (vocalist/songwriter) and Karl O’Shea (guitarist/composer/programmer/shaker of reindeer bells), this duo is involved in no less that 6 other bands between them but they decided to embark on a musical route neither has traveled before. The 25th of March, 2022 marks the release of their album Urban Umbra, which is a collection of the singles and extra tracks.
I have reviewed some of the singles previously, so I was already familiar with many of the tracks. I would have to say my favourite off the album is “After The Fall“, It is simple in its delivery, with a slow intense burn that you feel to your very core. Dawe’s singing is so perfect, giving you goosebumps with the sadness and tenderness. You can be consumed by tracks like “Golden Hour” which reflects the fading of points in time which cannot be recaptured, the melancholic “No Man’s Land” (no doubt Nick Cave inspired) and the intricate “After The Flood“.
In the end Urban Umbra runs a gamut of lost and unrequited love, lost perfect moments in time and tunes that you can decide what they mean to you. There is a divine symmetry between the acoustic and the use of synths, giving each of those tracks a well of emotional depth. O’Shea composes tunes that in essence have a dark core to them and wend their way into your mortal fabric. Dawes creates lyrics that pull at your heart strings, evoke memories and sentimental ideals, while his singing paints pictures of what has been and mirages of what could have been, in colours of murky dusky hues. This is the essence of Daylight Ghost’s Urban Umbra, a shadowy world of memory and dreams, drenched in longing. To that end……bleakly exquisite.
Onyx Music Reviews 