The Ghost And The Machine

"Resonator guitars from the early 20th century, nostalgic synthesizer sounds à la Agar Agar, and poetic, dark lyrics that, in their musical intensity, are reminiscent of Mark Lanegan, Chelsea Wolfe, or Tom Waits."

Welcome to a comfortably eerie trip through the emotional worlds of The Ghost And The Machine. 12 impressive 'dark indie folk rock' anthems about life and love, failure and rising again, self deception out of self protection, and human grief in all its facets. “Sorrows” is the name of the new album on which Austrian guitarist and singer Andreas Lechner creates his antithesis to the fast paced streaming madness, he counters the cynicism of the loud music industry with its 3 second attention span with an aesthetic 'gesamtkunstwerk'. He therefore describes his project as the 'ultimate indie experience', which is already manifested in the name, The Ghost And The Machine.

An allusion to the book by writer Arthur Koestler about the dualistic representation of the relationship between mind and body coined by Oxford philosopher Gilbert Ryle. A fitting title for the darkly romantic visions that the Viennese songwriter with Styrian roots has been bringing to life for over a decade, giving them the necessary space to breathe and unfold. Incidentally, the musician, who once studied jazz guitar with Karl Ratzer, also performs in the Burgtheater ensemble when he is not providing live accompaniment for silent films or working as a much sought after live and studio musician.

And now “Sorrows”, an impressive, intense work. With a raw, saturated, minimalist production and a little support from his friends. Martti Winkler (Tanz Baby!) graces the album with his accordion, Lara Cortellini can be heard on the 'singing saw', and The Zew refines the tear jerkingly beautiful “Ghost Romance”. Lyrically, the song deals with 'a love you will never experience. The soulmates you will never meet, and the hopeless struggle against the resulting emptiness'.

More of the same? Gladly. "Last Day Of Summer“, written 'actually on the last beautiful day of summer', is dedicated to 'coming and going in all its facets. Sadness meets hope in a quiet dialogue, nothing lasts forever, and that's also beautiful in a way'.

“Firewalker”, on the other hand, pays musical tribute to the old heroes of Joy Division and addresses 'the greatest challenges in life, finding the courage after setbacks to look ahead again and move on'. “Foreign City” catches the listener's attention with its idiosyncratic country style and self deprecating lines such as 'losing is a game I've always won', while ”Midnight Plains" stormily processes, in the best Stooges manner, 'the anger at oneself after deceiving oneself about another person'.

The lyrics to “Light Of Love”, meanwhile, were 'written in a rather clichéd way at 3AM in a bar on a napkin and found days later completely crumpled in my pants pocket. I was just able to save it from the washing machine and didn't change it much'.

What remains, along with other gems, is the album's namesake. “Sorrows”, deliberately kept in the plural. 'There isn't just one kind of sorrow, it has many faces. Sometimes they pass you by, sometimes they surround you, and you wish you could look at them from the outside'.

A wish, a glance. A journey, an invitation. Especially since shared sorrow is known to be half sorrow and does not have to remain static in self pity. And the confrontation with it has rarely been more beautiful than on “Sorrows” by, and with, The Ghost And The Machine.