We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

A Sea of Stars

by Simon's Ghost

/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.
    Purchasable with gift card

      name your price

     

1.
My World for the Moon (free) 03:09
info
download
2.
A Moth Around A Candle (free) 04:24
info
download
3.
Looking To The Light (free) 04:55
info
download
4.
Love Of My Life (free) 05:00
info
download
5.
A City Under The Stars (free) 04:00
info
download
6.
Broken Picture Frames (free) 04:23
info
download
7.
Starstruck (free) 02:51
info
download
8.
The Ship of Loneliness (free) 02:23
info
download

about

Following an accidental listening to `Blue Monday' by New Order on some chart radio show, Chris, Canadian-born and Scottish-bred, found that perhaps he wasn't the only one out there. After gorging himself on Factory Records, new wave music and Sarah Records, Chris began to feel that someone else saying almost what he meant to say wasn't quite the perfection he had hoped. With that, Chris bought his first Casiotone - an MT45, which was dated even then - and set about playing with no musical tuition. Not for him was learning someone else's tunes. Instead, the beginnings of songs that appeared on the first album began to take root.

All the songs from the first album, `A Sea of Stars' were written on that ancient little keyboard with its' 8 drum patterns and its' 8 tones. Chris only ever picked up a guitar the first time he entered a studio. The songs from `A Sea of Stars' have slowly matured and developed but at heart they remain played on that tacky keyboard and that cheap distorted guitar, on an outmoded 4-track. The honesty of the album almost bites.

The music swoons and crashes, reminiscent of, say, Pulp, Scott Walker or the Trembling Blue Stars. There are comparisons with the lo-fi of bands such as The Decemberists, Band of Holy Joy, Tindersticks or Casiotone For The Painfully Alone but there's a far darker side to these tracks, maybe more connected to Joy Division, the Durutti Column, Interpol and Thom Yorke. The lyrics convey a sense of yearning and loss, none more so than the conversation taking place in `A Moth Around A Candle', where our protagonist realises that when `lying in bed and wishing you dead' the only conclusion can be 'what's the point of it all?'

credits

released August 12, 2009

C. Smillie (instruments & vocals)

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Simon's Ghost image

Simon's Ghost UK

Chris Smillie has been writing songs forever under a few different names but the one he always come back to is ‘Simon’s Ghost’. The name is derived from a particularly good track by Factory Records band, Crispy Ambulance from the album, The Plateau Phase.

The first album, A Sea of Stars, is lo-fi electronica - New Order with Casiotones. The second, Cold, is a far harder new wave guitar sound. ... more

contact / help

Contact Simon's Ghost

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

Simon's Ghost recommends:

If you like Simon's Ghost, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Saxophonist Isaiah Collier chats about his new LP and the influence of Pharoah Sanders.
listen now