WORLD 
The indie folk rock collective Lusitanian Ghosts will present their new single‘Never Less Than Lonely’. Rock with a twist, their forthcoming (and second) album ‘Exotic Quixotic’, slated for release on November 19 via European Phonographic, involves no guitars whatsoever. Featuring ancient Portuguese chordophones and other European string instruments, this is a brilliant taste of the sonic prism through which they present ancient sounds in the 21st Century.
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After a soul-crushing year and a half for concert-goers (and the population in general), we can take heart that some outstanding music has been released in this period. ‘Exotic Quixotic’ ranks in this same category – a timely release to lift our spirits. Highly melodic and sonically great with applaudable production, for music performed with classical instruments, this is a pertinent, contemporary collection of songs that is full dignity, the artists’ remaining true to their values and ethics.
Founded in 2015, Lusitanian Ghosts are Neil Leyton, Mikael Lundin (a.k.a. Micke Ghost), João Sousa, Omiri, O Gajo, Abel Beja, Janne Olson and other artists that come and go within the collective. While Neil Leyton, the band’s vocalist and songwriter (together with Mikael Lundin aka Micke Ghost) may be from Toronto, he currently resides in Portugal, dedicating his time to making, recording and performing music, in addition to helping other musicians and independent labels on the educational, label and publishing fronts.
Lusitanian Ghosts’ genesis happened when Neil Leyton brought Micke Ghost a Viola Amarantina from Lisbon to Stockholm, and their subsequent performance in Portugal, opening for Primitive Reason on the Ericeira beach Their songs are written from a socio-political perspective about building a better world, creating songs from and for the heart and the mind. Their compositions mix indie songwriting with traditional Portuguese instruments like the Beiroa, Campaniça, Braguesa, Terceirense and Amarantina guitars (or violas as they are called in Portugal), each with its own string arrangements and tunings.
“This is all Chordophone violas from Portugal – namely the viola Amarantina, Braguesa, Campaniça and Terceira, played by the Lusitanian Ghosts collective including Canadian-Portuguese artist Neil Leyton, Micke Ghost (the first Swede to play the viola Amarantina!), Vasco Ribeiro Casais aka OMIRI (Portugal), Abel Beja (USA/Portugal, viola Terceira from the Azores), João Sousa on drums (sometimes replacing the snare with the Portuguese square drum Adufe) and Jan-Eric Olson on bass. But not just bass! Janne borrowed O Gajo’s viola Campaniça for some extra dark licks. Chordophone rock n roll, Alt-Folk, Urban-Country-Folk, however it gets labelled what should come across are the humanist messages in these songs,” says Micke Ghost.
Dedicated to the memory of Maria Narcisa Ribeiro, Leyton’s great-grandmother, ‘Never Less Than Lonely’was the first song written for this second album, and one that is ultimately about life, love, loss and freedom of choice.
“‘Never Less Than Lonely’ is about loss of memory… from whichever perspective, really. Alzheimer’s, for example, that end of the afternoon sundowning feeling… or cancer. Losing people slowly, watching them fade… there’s no reason why human beings shouldn’t be allowed to exit with dignity, so I suppose the song in a way is a defence of euthanasia, which has been in the news over the last few years here in Portugal as well as other EU countries,” says Neil Leyton.
Following up their latest single ‘Soul Deranium’, this new single is a welcome offering from the new album, which was recorded on analogue tape and mixed by Sebastian MuxfeldtElbow, Peter Doherty, Teenage Fanclub) at Hamburg’s Clouds Hills Studios, recasting heritage folk violas into rock and roll songs
Their debut self-titled album, recorded at Portugal’s Canoa Studios and produced by Ricardo Ferreira, was a successful experiment in mixing the various regional Lusitanian (Portuguese) chordophones with what has come to be the band’s unique brand of singer-songwriter rock n roll. Distinctive from the previous album, they’ve done away with the guitars, using only chordophones, along with bass and drums. Even the snare was replaced on many tracks with the Adufe, a Portuguese square drum. Their unique approach to music and fascinating backstory can be enjoyed via the documentary‘Lusitanian Ghosts: Making Of the Lusitanian Ghosts debut album – Chordophone Rock n Roll’, which emphasizes how these Portuguese ancient instruments (the real Lusitanian Ghosts) have become forgotten over time.
As of October 15, ‘Never Less Than Lonely’ will be available everywhere online, including Spotify and Apple Music. It can be ordered at https://lnk.to/neverless. The full ‘Exotic Quixotic’ album will be released on November 19 and can be pre-ordered via Bandcamp or at https://lnk.to/exoticquixotic
ALBUM CREDITS
Neil Leyton: Lead vocals
Mikael Lundin: viola Amarantina, backing vocals, bass, Mellotron, viola Campaniça. Lead vocals on ‘Exotic Quixotic’ and ‘Hometown’
João “Johnny” Sousa: drums and Adufe
Vasco Ribeiro Casais: viola Braguesa
Abel Beja: viola Terceira
Jan-Eric Olsson: bass and viola Campaniça
All songs by Neil Leyton and Mikael Lundin aka Micke Ghost
Published by Lusitanian Music Publishing
Recorded at Clouds Hill Studios, Hamburg
Engineered and Mixed by Sebastian Muxfeldt
Produced by Neil Leyton and Mikael Lundin
Mastered at Soundgarden by Florian Siller
Cover Illustration by Johan Lindberg Brusewitz
TRACK LIST
01. Soul Deranium
02. Never Less Than Lonely
03. All the Sounds
04. Exotic Quixotic
05. Older and Colder
06. Living One Life (Just Ain’t Enough These Days)
07. For the Wicked
08. Lisbon Calling
09. She Couldn’t Jump
10. Live the Flea
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