No Ghost is the latest, fourth album from The Acorn, an Ottawa band that recorded the album in seclusion in a cottage in northern Quebec and they have delivered one of the unheralded and nice surprises so far in the musical year. Generally the band mixes elements of alt-rock/folk and acoustic elements with some sonic swirling and atmospheric sounds and riffs to create a great mix of sounds and songs that is really quite well done. The band never really goes completely for the chilled out, isolation sound and they also never go for a full rock sound, so the album exists somewhere in between, but the way that they blend all of these elements together is really nice on this one.
The album has a very nice mix of chilled out, stripped down lo-fi-ish kinds of jams with some spacious, atmospheric elements alongside it as well as some more straightforward indie rock kinds of songs. They also do a great job of giving the songs a fully fleshed out band sound so the songs never sound to introverted, they always have an energy and a presence to them with usually great instrumentation all around. The opening track “Cobbled From Dust” mixes some of that stripped down acoustic guitar with some more fleshed out vocals and piano to create a nice sonic mix. Songs like “Misplaced” and “Almanac” are superb songs that mix a kind of in-the-moment lo-fi sound with some great vocals to create an isolated yet warm sound that really serves these songs well. Then the band also brings out songs like “Restoration” and “Crossed Wires” that are much more straight forward and uptempo indie-rock kinds of songs, but they keep that intimate feeling that the rest of the album builds so well and the hooks and choruses therefore really pay off on those songs as well.
The band here has shown a great ability to write unexpected and catchy hooks and riffs and to blend them perfectly with a kind of overall spacious atmosphere of the album that really captures some great performances by everyone in the band and really brings out all of the best elements of the songs. When they go very sparse with the arrangements it never feels forced and always flows quite well and likewise when they mix in some more progressive or uptempo elements as well. The album somewhat defies a real general description because it has great balance to it and it manages to blend simplicity with the weight of the songs in a great way. There are some really strong songs on this album and if you are looking for something that is off the beaten path and has some really strong stuff on it, this is definitely an album worth looking into. I really enjoy just about every song on here and the band keeps it intriguing and interesting throughout so I recommend giving this one a listen.
