REVIEW: GALAPAGHOST “I NEVER ARRIVED”

Galapaghost’s “I Never Arrived” is a self-released album of softly drifting folk songs that fall gently upon the listener like dandelion seed-puffs on the breeze. “I Never Arrived” follows upon the successes 2012’s “Runnin’,” which had a song selected for the soundtrack of the award winning Italian film “Il Ragazzo Invisible” (The Invisible Boy – in English markets).

Glalapaghost is almost entirely the work of one man, Casey Chandler, who’s responsible for lyrics and playing a wide range of instruments: guitar, synth, piano, bass, drum programming and even using a typewriter as a musical instrument. Casey is assisted by Frederico Puttilli who handles electric guitar work and the ukulele.

Modern synthesizer effects and contemporary recording tools enhance the album’s traditional folk elements. The first song, and one of the more notable tracks, is ‘Mazes in the Sky,’. Capturing a vibe reminiscent of Bon Iver’s first record, but with 75% less falsetto.

‘Mister Mediocrity,’ takes a lyrical stab at self-deprecation with lines such as, “I wish I could scream like Curt Cobain” and “I wish I could sing like Paul Simon can sing or maybe just name all the chords that I play.” Although a highly introspective song, which could have succumbed to the pitfalls of being overly dark and moody, is instead, whimsical without being totally frivolous. It’s a fine and commendable balancing act, and one that’s needed on an album that runs the risk of coming across as overly bleak.

 

Chandler is very open as a songwriter, grabbing the listener and pulling them intimately close through his heart-on-his-sleeve lyrics and soulful guitar picking. There is also an experimental playfulness hidden within some songs, and is an element I’d like to see nurtured, developed and expanded upon, but for now, these experimental flourishes add a tasty layer of delicious sizzling fat over the lean meat of Galapaghost songs.

We’ll leave you with one of the stand-out tracks, “The Secrets Our Body Keeps.” It’s a song that displays a willingness to extend outside the album’s comfort zone, thus offering a surprising treat.

 

Little known fact, Galapaghost groupies are known as…