Local Review: Ghosts of Cinema – Fantasmagoria
Local Music Reviews
Ghosts of Cinema
Fantasmagoria
Self-Released
Street: 04.02.2025
Ghosts of Cinema = Slowdive + Slow Pulp
Devan Bailey and Carter Smith, the creative minds behind Ghosts of Cinema, last released an album in 2010. That album, Regarding Time, Color, & Objection to Both, was good, for sure, but the duo’s latest release Fantasmagoria is something else entirely. Something good, maybe great.
The sound is complex, rich with layers of blurry guitar existing next to and beneath crisp percussion with glorious feedback and harmonized vocals. There are a lot of familiar influences here, with obvious shoegaze touches throughout combined with something broader, more mature than teenage angst and anxieties. I am not saying that the first album is immature — emotive lyrics and themes on top of lush walls of sound are just an indication that this sophomore album has a lot of life inside of it. 15 years of life, in fact, which they recorded and shared with us.
I had a great time listening to this album for the week. I have contemplated a lot, with this as my soundtrack. That’s what music is all about, no? An accompanying tune to explain away human experiences, growth or a lack thereof? It is for me, anyway. I’ll revisit this album and play it a bit, I think. This can be the score for this point in my life, when I look back on it: slow and steady with bursts of dynamic contrast, many things happening at once, all while moving the needle in the desired direction.
The two singles “In Spite of Everything” and “Empyreal” are fantastic, both featuring guest vocals from Megan Bailey. They are playlist sort of songs, ones you share with a friend to illustrate how you’ve been doing. My favorite track by far, though, is “In Medias Res.” This one belted out to me. I felt some old Death Cab, Sunny Day Real Estate and, of course, My Bloody Valentine within its limited time frame. Fantasmagoria is splendid from track one. Take a ride and give it a go — you’ll find you’re not riding alone. —Billy Swartzfager
Read more of SLUG’s local album reviews here:
Local Review: Runestomper — Trials, Pt. II
Local Review: The Alpines — Dying Star
