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Singer/songwriter Adam Dawe (Lunar Seasons, Novus Wild) and composer/guitarist Karl O’Shea (Balloons Kill Babies, inovo, Sarah Stockholm, Ghostwoods) make up Daylight Ghosts, based in Brisbane, Australia. It has been a moment since we last heard from them, but now they are back from the dead with the single “Lazarus.”

The start feels like a threat to violence with a taste of metallic electronics, carried through in the rhythms of the electric guitar, mollified by the acoustic guitar. Dawe could be the vocal embodiment of Marc Bolan, though the message is not one of unity or love, which is clear from the lyrics kick in. It is meaty and unapologetic.

Sheesh, talk about whiplash. The surprise I felt on the first listen is not quantifiable. This folkie duo have brought on the industrial in order to give “Lazarus” teeth, with a message that our voices, allegiances and ideals impact the world around us, pushing the narrative that not fighting for what is right will have lasting implications. And if you though that was serious, you need to check out the even more angry man’s angry man, HOSTILE ARCHITECT aka Mitch Kenny, and his remix which is actually a bit creepy in an apocalyptic sort of way. You cannot change the world unless you stand up, stop pretending that you are dead, come back to life like “Lazarus,” and join the children of revolution with Daylight Ghosts.

Lazarus | Daylight Ghosts

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Daylight Ghosts (@daylightghostsmusic) • Instagram photos and videos

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It can’t rain all the time but sometimes it “Feels Like Rain” which also happens to be the Signia Alpha single, released on the 11th of November. The band is made up of singer/lyricist Harris (yes just one name like Prince), multi instrumentalist composer Matt Webster (drums, guitar), flaunting his flute style is Chris Walsh, along with jazz master Keith Jafrate on sax and some bloke called Paul Gray who normally plays bass in some kitch band called The Damned.

Every time I have listened to this, I think Paisley Park, as in the 60s. Could be the use of the flute or the happy go lucky vibe of the music, though not all is as it seems. Lyrically it is about poverty and how it sucks away all until you only live under a constant weight and greyness, which is not living.

The Bradford area is in the North of England and since the industrial revolution, suffered high levels of poverty and unemployment. A breeding ground for musicians who are great storeytellers. “Feels Like Rain” rolls along just like the days do but with a social concious.

https://signiaalpha.bandcamp.com/track/feels-like-rain

Signia Alpha | Facebook

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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.

Urban Umbra | Daylight Ghosts (bandcamp.com)

Daylight Ghosts | Facebook