Snow Ghosts have released their latest single ‘Heavy Heart’, taken from the new album ‘A Quiet Ritual’.
A chillingly beautiful and captivating track, ‘Heavy Heart’ sees pensive soundscapes and ethereal vocalsbuild to a climactic, distorted crescendo, while hauntingly catchy vocal melodies convey its unsettling sentiment.
“Heavy Heart is ultimately a love song. It addresses how trauma can affectthose closest to you and how love can become the most beautiful of burdens.”
Recorded in a castle in the countryside and two years in the making, A Quiet Ritual is written for an ensemble of classical and modern instruments including the carnyx, an Iron Age Celtic boar-headed horn excavated from a bog in Deskford, Scotland. For the carnyx, they enlisted the services of John Kenny, one of just a few musicians able to play the instrument and the first to do so in modern times.
The mix of instruments is indicative of the idiosyncratic timelessness common to this album and all of their previous works. Having had a historical context present on their previous albums, the inclusion of the carnyx ties the release together, combining ritualistic themes with an instrument commonly used in rituals or as an offering in ancient culture.
A Quiet Ritual is out May 3rd on Houndstooth Records.
