Ghost Light featuring guitarists Tom Hamilton and Raina Mullen, keyboardist Holly Bowling, bassist Steve Lyons and drummer Scotty Zwang will issue their debut album Best Kept Secrets on March 22. The quintet shared the LP’s lead single, “Best Kept Secret.”
The band recorded the bulk of the album between December 2017 – April 2018 at Rittenhouse Soundworks in Philadelphia with additional tracking at various locations. Guests include percussionist Jim Hamilton, Sam Greenfield on saxophone and flute, Jon Shaw on trumpet and Bobby Conselatore on vibraphone and xylophone.
“I think of this album like a bunch of abstract paintings,” said Hamilton. “We present the songs as a series meant to be experienced in a certain order, but at the end of the day, whatever that series makes you feel is totally up to you.” Tom and Raina were chemically assisted as they chased new sounds. “We wanted to see what would happen if we opened up some new creative doors, so we got a whole bunch of LSD,” remembered Hamilton. “Twice a week for a few months, Raina and I would eat acid and just work in the studio all night.”
After initial sessions with Tommy and Raina, the rest of the band was brought in. “It was kind of like working with a new medium or a new palette of paints and starting to figure out how the medium works and what it can do,” explained Bowling. “Our understanding of each other as musicians and what we each bring to the band was falling into place at the same time each of these songs were taking shape.” Head here to pre-order the album. Listen to “Best Kept Secret” below:
