Biography
East Midlands “To Bury A Ghost” make epic, ethereal & haunting, heart-bruised celestial art-rock. Debut EP “The Hurt Kingdom” swells with ambition & brooding melancholia, a mesmeric sonic montage of ghostly sullen operatic choirs, fluttering violins, rumbling horns & tinkering glockenspiel.
Produced and recorded by Russ Russell (Dimmu Borgir, Nepalm Death), the EP is the new incarnation of former “Hungry I” songwriter & multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Stolber, whose subtle, vulnerable and mournful Ryan Adams-esque wail underpins the records macabre wide-screen elegance.
A chance meeting on tour between Stolber & fellow drummer Rupert Boddington (Black Ramps) and Marc Bransgrove (Bass), led to the recording of initial free download demo “Beginning is the end.” The track received wide spread critical praise from the likes of Organ Magazine & The Fly (“…epic, symphonic, reminiscent of Yndi Halda…”) and marked a bold departure from Stolber’s previous lo-fi laptop soundscapes to a richer, expansive and grandiose semi-orchestral wall of sound.
TBAG are set to release the malevolent & bombastic debut Single “Birthday” as a free download via bandcamp.com/ on 29th November 2010.
The opening track of the EP is a glorious sprawling cacophony of pounding drums & neo-classical piano arpeggios. Delicate, sombre vocals glide over string quintet & brass as a gorgeous sweeping Danny Elfman sized chorale coda closes the single. The piano led lament vividly recalls the likes of a darker, more morose Radiohead.
From the dirty compressed Queens of the Stone Age-esque bass riffage on “Coming Up For Air” to the pummelling tribal drumming & transcendent euphoric soaring guitars in the closing moments of freshly re-recorded anthemic instrumental “Beginning is the end” (featuring a guest appearance by Eric Heath of El Heath & Epic 45), the EP is laced with moments of delicate nuance & beauty, set against devastating slow burning & abrasive melodies that reach to the sky and back.
Stolber has to date had the pleasure of sharing stage with many magnificent acts such as 65 Days Of Static, The Guillemots, Her Name Is Calla & James Yuill. Drowned In Sound, The Fly, Organ Magazine, The Silent Ballet, XFM’s John Kennedy & Gill Mills have all expressed support of his work.
The Hurt Kingdom EP is released on Ltd Edition CD and as a digital download through Bandcamp on 6th December 2010. It contains an exclusive glitch remix by Lee J Malcolm of Leeds band Vessels.
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