Premiere: Lands and Peoples, “Ghosts”

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Stoked to share some news and debut a track from Lands and Peoples, experimental pop darlings from Baltimore that blend infectious hooks with layers of immersive sonics to create peaks and valleys of pure bliss. After a couple of EPs and singles, their debut long player is now here. Pop Guilt will see a limited vinyl release.

“Ghosts” appears in the middle of Side B of Pop Guilt:

Lands and Peoples, “Ghosts”

“Ghosts” is a slow burner with harmonies so fluid, you'll find your ears happily lost somewhere between the two singer's voices. Beau Cole and Caleb Moore have a way of making a rather ugly and unwelcome emotion like angst feel quite beautiful and comforting. The song's louder moment cries, “stoned and impatient, slow admiration,” words that would normally depict a darker instance. Though, in the context of “Ghosts,” it hints at more of a self-liberating experience. I asked Beau Cole to expand.

The song is about sitting through a conversation with someone and drifting off in the middle of it, zoning out, because the subject matter is the same fodder that you always talk about. Whether the point is to kill time or just make conversation, it gets really old, really quickly. The little “scenes” in the verses are what's going through the head of the person as they're drifting off and straying their focus. The pre-chorus is when the person snaps back into the conversation, rather aggressively because it's “the same old shit.”

Matt Carr, writer of Everybody Taste, has pressed 300 of the band's debut LP on white vinyl under his imprint, Analog Edition. Pre-orders are rewarded with an instant download of the entire record, and the packaging includes art by Stephen Matthew Booth.

Pop Guilt is available here.