Cherry Ghost – Beneath This Burning Shoreline
“I thought, if I don’t state my case now I’ll never get that opportunity again.” ‘Beneath This Burning Shoreline’, released in 2010, was the second album from Cherry Ghost – the project of Ivor Novello winning songwriter Simon Aldred. Released on vinyl for the first time, ten years after its release, it stands as Aldred’s bona fide masterpiece – not least by the songwriter himself.
Following the chart success of Cherry Ghost’s debut ‘Thirst For Romance’, Aldred felt disillusioned with touring an album he viewed to be stylistically “schizophrenic.” Whilst proud of the songs on that record, he had visions of something more cohesive, more mood-based – where ideas re-occur, images are fragmented and songs bleed into one another. Similarly, he’d been returning heavily to artists like Sparklehorse and Wilco. After nearly a decade on the dole, once Cherry Ghost brought Aldred financial stability the first thing he did was travel Europe – the album is galvanised by these solo rail journeys through cities like Berlin and Rome. Like Scott Walker’s late 60s work, it’s a romantic vision of a Europe filtered through the lens of an outsider. Atmospherics, too, would be crucial – Aldred had been listening to film soundtracks, and songs here are linked by unmoored instrumental passages.
‘Beneath This Burning Shoreline’ is overwhelmingly in a minor key, and choruses are few – ‘Kissing Strangers’, however, is the album’s only anthemic moment. “That references my days a young gay man” says Aldred, “staggering between bars but yearning for something more.”
The album’s most powerful moment is the haunting ‘My God Betrays’ – “it is” he explains, “a completely bleak portrait.” Inspired by the writings of Albert Camus, the song is an anti-hymn to a malevolent God, a prayer to a Lord who plays to the crowds and turns on the weak. ‘People Help the People It is Not’. There is, however, some redemption – the chiming ‘Black Fang’ is one of the most successfully realized love songs in Aldred’s back catalogue. A decade on, it remains Aldred’s proudest work – “It’s the one I always go back to, to remind myself what I get out of music.”
Words by Fergal Kinney
Watch Cherry Ghost perform album track, ‘Only A Mother’ ‘Black Fang’ and ‘Kissing Strangers’
Cherry Ghost | Three songs from Beneath This Burning Shoreline from SoupCo on Vimeo.
Cherry Ghost – Only A Mother from SoupCo on Vimeo.
“One sunny day spent in the studio with Cherry Ghost before
they set off on their tour. This is one of three performances we filmed with them for online promotion of their latest album ‘Beneath the Burning Shoreline’.”
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“A subtle, unashamedly adult statement, warm and wise, and festooned with hooks.“
– Mojo Magazine ★★★★ –
A true Heavenly classic, this LP is available on vinyl for the first time as part of the ‘Love Record Stores’ event this Saturday.
Read about all the Heavenly releases for this weekend’s event here. A list of all the participating stores can be found here.
Follow the Love Record Stores blog to keep up to date with all the June 20th news and online event information.
The ‘Cherry Ghost Live at The Trades Club January 25 2015’ will be released as part of the ‘Record Store Day’ Events on August 29th. More information can be found here.