David Wright Walking With Ghosts Play: Lo-Fi   Mid-Fi   Hi-Fi   Download: Lo-Fi   Mid-Fi   Hi-Fi (Excerpt from track 'A Road to Nowhere')

At last David Wright's follow up to '360' is completed after four years in the making and it has been worth the wait as this is his best album to date by a country mile. This is his most consistent, coherent and mature musical statement where he returns to what he does best, producing emotional electronic music for the heart and the head. A variety of styles fuse together in a totally satisfying blend.

Recognisable David Wright 's trademarks and the contributions from the variety of guest musicians merge into one organic, seamless soundtrack leaving the listener to experience a personal sonic voyage into their own inner or outer space. The set begins with 'Going Down', very subtle textures and descending and ascending pitches which serve as a prequel to 'A Certain Malaise' which begins with brisk percussion, including tabla effects, and a superb cinematic twangy guitar motif vaguely reminiscent of spaghetti western themes, with a bass line to match Morricone at his best. Before the dust has time to stick in the throat, we are into 'A Road to Nowhere (A Nomadic Tale)' which adds percussion, sequences, a terrific theme and some scorching guitar by Andy Lobban. A brilliant track.

This is followed by 'Midnight in the Shadow of Temptation and Delight', a tranquil sonic oasis of expansive synths and in contrast to the previous searing guitar, wonderfully gentle, expressive, echoed fretwork. This proves to be merely the eye of the storm however, as 'Return of the Nomad' cross fades in even more powerful than before reprising the themes and Lobban's blistering guitar licks electrify the mix. Again, in complete contrast, this is succeeded by 'Beyond Paradise' a superlative 'come down' track. This is 'Beside the Sleepy Lagoon' for the chill out generation. A gentle bass pulse, sea breeze electronics and a classically understated timeless synth motif which comforts and soothes away the collected angst accumulated in the recesses of your brain and is occasionally augmented by blissful, heavenly strings.

'Night Falls' continues the lilting bassline and motif but adds tasteful saxophone and cymbal effects as the air slowly chills to almost subliminal whispers and echoes. 'Darklands' adds a more ominous tone with insistent, doomy chords, moody strings and piano improvisations around a theme. 'Flame Sky' changes the atmosphere again with expansive synth and guitar but with Cionna Lee's violin adding another dimension to the sound with marimba like effects changing the mood again to create a more dream-like, hypnotic, ethnic atmosphere.

'No More Angels', another meditative, vaguely ominous piece, features more creative and subtle guitar textures with threatening, restless strings, minimalist piano and rare meteorological interference. 'Too Late Now!' is the most abstract piece on the album with vague ethnic references, sweeps and washes which again serve as contrast to the opening section of the 23 minute eponymous opus.

'Walking with Ghosts:Penumbra' begins with expressive, haunting classical piano eventually backed with treated voices in counter harmony. 'The second section 'Walking with Ghosts -The Gift' raises the tempo a little with Bill Kibby's guitar gracing the mix before another memorable tune makes an immediate impact upon the listener while the guitar contributions continue to impress throughout. 'Walking with Ghosts-Acheron' slows the pace right down as the piano returns, eventually backed by strings and a more melancholic, downbeat melody emerges cross fading into the finale, 'Walking with Ghosts-C'est la vie'. Carrying a church-like organ into the opening section the sound becomes progressively more expansive as guitar and percussion return until around 2 minutes 46 the track winds down suddenly into an impressionistic, downbeat ending.