Already we are talking about Ghostpoet’s third album, only four years after the release of his debut. He is an artist with a lot to say, but the way he says it is consistently compelling. For ‘Shedding Skin’ he has taken on a live band of guitar, bass and drums, pushing himself musically but somehow keeping the intimacy of his first two records. After setting the scene on the upbeat opener the album explores the dark corners of the end of a relationship. Vocal sparring partners Etta Bond, Mélanie De Biasio, Lucy Rose and Nadine Shah help Ghostpoet pick over the bones of some particularly painful memories and emotions, thoughts that tax him to the limit. “I don’t care anymore”, he offers on the introspective ‘X Marks The Spot’, but on ‘Be Right Back, Moving House’ – with Maximo Park’s Paul Smith – there are signs of an underlying positivity, the rapper (or should that be speech artist?) proclaiming how “love will remain throughout the pain and strain”. At times in ‘Shedding Skin’ his natural optimism is severely compromised, but finally on ‘Nothing In The Way’ it blossoms like the first buds of spring into full blown colour, and I defy anyone not to shed a tear as the searching string lines make themselves known. A brave and moving album from a man fast becoming a powerhouse in English music.
5 out of 5
Reviewed by Ben Hogwood
{http://soundcloud.com/stlldn/sets/ghostpoet-shedding-skin}
