Ghostwriter

Variety is the spice of life, they say, and this 4-track EP from Devon-based songwriter Mark Brend aka Ghostwriter confirms that.
‘Autobiographical Sketch no 1’ itself mixes what the label’s press release calls “sonic collage”, alternating with spooky film music. An under-2-minute instrumental, it doesn’t really give many clues as to what might follow.
‘Dieosnionsis’ is divided into 2 chapters – the first piano mixed with what might be chatter from Radio Moscow, and a fine throwback to the kind of ambient and experimental music you might have experienced on late night radio in the 90s, especially when some theremin wibbles its way in.
‘Chapter 2’ goes all weird on us for a bit before settling into what could only loosely be described as a ‘groove’, again the indie sounds of 30 years ago recalled a little as the proto-electronica of Sheffield is interspersed with kind of Camberwell-style jazzy percussion.
Another short piece closes – ‘With stringed instruments a song’. The first part of that description is right, but this is no vocal in the normal sense, instead someone enthusiastically attacking a sitar. As such, it fits in perfectly. In all, a strange set that somehow works.
www.chaffinchrecords.com