If Ghost Light’s debut album, Best Kept Secrets, is worthy of any criticism, it is that which applies to so many first works by so many artists, that is, there may be more good ideas here than the playing time of the album allows. But to the great credit of the band—and in contrast to their sometimes meandering live shows, the protracted gestation process they pursued—extended touring, then brainstorming of original compositions all prior to entering the studio together– allowed them to effectively condense the more formidable ideas.
Best Kept Secrets is nevertheless something of a mixed bag of the accessible and the ethereal. Commencing with percussion and Holly Bowling’s piano, totally in keeping with the somewhat ominous implications of the opening song’s title, “Elegy” continues into some wordless vocals from guitarist Raina Mullen that border on the self-conscious, so it’s fortunate the track ends just in time, Yet its less than three-minute duration still makes for a jarring contrast with “Don’t Fall Apart Just Yet, My Dear;” this fairly conventional, accessible tune sounds like a patchwork of ideas, including heavy electric riffing and acoustic picking, that might better have been better sorted out and perhaps edited down to maximize its impact.
But the titular leader of Ghost Light, guitarist/composer Tom Hamilton, likens these “ tracks to “a bunch of abstract paintings,” so it may be a mistake to take such cuts as “Diamond Eyes,” on their own terms rather than as part of the whole. Certainly, that cut comes off better in its studio form than on stage: the rhythm of Jim Hamilton’s congas focuses the force of Mullen’s alternately airy and soaring (strident?) singing, while bassist Steve Lyons (now departed from the group), and drummer Scotty Zwang drive the quintet’s performance
“Isosceles” similarly suggests Ghost Light have more than enough ideas, sometimes within a single tune, to parse out what might well have resulted in a double album. Kudos to them for their restraint on that front and also for not indulging in the common prog-rock pretension of assigning separate song titles to the waves of instrumental progression(s) in “Beyond Before.” And “Keep Your Hands to Yourself” sounds like nothing else on Best Kept Secrets, its funk inflections enhanced by horns including Jon Shaw’s trumpet, the electric piano of Bowling and a short sharp sax solo from Sam Greenfield.
Perhaps not surprisingly, it’s followed by Bobby Conselatore’s vibraphone/xylophone on “If Only, For Now,” the ambiance of which enhances not only a similar atmosphere conjured up during“Doorway to a Silent Chamber,” but the circular logic in the sequencing of these nine cuts. Greg Calbi’ expertise sound mastering further cements the continuity of Best Kept Secrets as a purposeful, cogent statement on the part of these seasoned musicians.
