Ghost Ship can be a difficult album to write about, due to its minimalist nature. Anchored by two guitars, drums and vocals, it’s interesting how despite having a relatively full band, Drawn Ship seem to exist between the spaces of their music. It’s not dark or atmospheric, but aside from occasional added percussion, Drawn Ship have carved a very specific sound, reminiscent of a less energetic version of the bass and drum duo Duotang.
There are vocal contributions here from other Canadian music luminaries such as Hannah Georgas, and Ryan Guldemond from Mother Mother. I’m not entirely sure how many people will appreciate the lyrics of this album in the same way that I have, but two tracks here – “Gabriel Dumont” and “Orangemen” – are both about preconfederation Canadian history, which I wish more bands would write about.
Ghost Weight is a good album by a band who has a clear sense of their aesthetic. Particularly strong tracks like “No Scene” flex their muscles a bit and show the bad has more power than you might think a minimalist band would have. Though the band doesn’t tread water on this album, more explorations such of this might reflect well on the band’s music. (Scratch Records, scratchrecords.com) Devin King