The latest monolith of a hook-filled single, Rearview, from the alt-electronica trailblazer Ghostfeeder, stepped out from the shadows of 80s synthpop and glam rock to show its sharp teeth and even sharper hooks.
With the frenzied-with-distortion guitars around Ghostfeeder’s signature vintage synth textures and under the poppy vocals that leave the hooks in IAMX and Highly Suspect tracks sounding blunt, Rearview is a viscerally exhilarant release; especially if you allow the depth of the lyricism to submerge you deeper into the evocative momentum. Anyone who can find resonance in the reprise ‘stuck in rewind’ in the context of being paralysed when it comes to letting go of the past will get galvanizingly more than they’ve bargained for when they hit play.
After sharing stages with goth royalty, including KMFDM, Powerman 5000, and Cold Cave, it is more than about time that Ghostfeeder stepped into the headliner limelight. To bolster the honed songwriting, Rearview was mixed by the Grammy Award-nominated and platinum-selling artist and producer Amir Derakh (Orgy, Dead by Sunrise, Julien-K) and mastered by Mike Marsh (The Chemical Brothers, Prodigy, Depeche Mode). The track reaches the pinnacle of cyber goth ear candy.
Stream Rearview on all major platforms from the 11th of August via this link.
Review by Amelia Vandergast