Ghost Electricity/Vampire Draw＜Clear Vinyl＞

After releasing a pair of solo albums for Joyful Noise, former Margot & the Nuclear So and Sos frontman Richard Edwards self-released the similarly dreamy and yearning Soft Ache and the Moon in June of 2020, just after the COVID-19 pandemic had taken hold. While Edwards himself had already been largely homebound for about a year due to recurring GI-related health issues, he was moved by seeing so many of his musician friends forced off the road. He collaborated with some of them on a pair of Margot cover albums as well on his fourth original solo album, the also self-released Ghost Electricity/Vampire Draw. It begins with two minutes of sentimental-mood-setting piano on "Ghost Electricity Theme" before the lush "Holy Spirt" begins the proceedings in earnest. The songs strings-embellished AM pop supports a wailing vocal melody that sets the stage for "Ketamine," a quieter lament-slash-love song that refers to Edwards time at an experimental clinic on an IV ketamine drip. The rest of the albums likewise heavy inspirations and sentiments are complemented by elegant arrangements of, at least for the most part, piano, strings, acoustic guitar, atmospheric keys, and rhythm section, though subtle touches like the mallet percussion and ghostly effects on "Estonia (Monastery Mood)," warped distortion throughout "Love," pedal steel on "Hey Baby I Wantchoo Cmere," and choral backing on "Freud on the Beach" add texture and drama to an otherwise dewy-eyed set (with the exception of the lighter "Off to See the World"). Promoted by Edwards as his final album "unless I happen to grow old and get a sudden itch," Ghost Electricity/Vampire Draw closes on the pairing of a second instrumental theme, this time with overlapped spoken-word recordings, and "The Mad Bomber," a song whose accompaniment to lyrics like "Hold me in your bony arms before I float away" becomes increasingly spectral. ~ Marcy Donelson