After nearly three years, a remix and a collab “split album” with fellow post punkers Mind Mine, Mother Ghost are about to release their new full-length album, Radio Fantasma. Still experimenting with genre and pushing boundaries, Oscar and Thomas Flores have released a teaser track, an aggressive, industrial-tinged rock polisher called “Negative Affirmations” with the title track due to tease further on July 6 before the full album is out on July 19. Given how heavy the first tune in, it’s helpful of the Houston-based brothers to give fans a warmup.
Whilst “Negative Affirmations” is a strong, fast starter that combines punk, industrial and aggressive, drum & bass-style beats, fans shouldn’t expect Radio Fantasma to have abandoned the more melodic and new-wave aspects of Mother Ghost‘s sound. Written largely during the early pandemic, the brothers Flores were happy (in retrospect) to have the time to explore new sounds, however, and the time and care taken in the studio is obvious in the end product. The duo even made the decision to outsource production to fellow Geodesic Records artist aCr.
We have loved having the time to focus in the studio, allowing us to experiment and discover the right sound for each song.
Radio Fantasma is about the anxieties of everyday life and the things that help us get through to the next day.
Most of the lyrics on the album come from our personal life, a news story, or social grievance.
The heat of those personal experiences and social grievances really comes through on the album, with both brothers leaning into their punk anger. Thomas’s normally Peter Hook-like bass comes through more punishing and menacing than ever before, and his synths follow suit. Oscar’s guitar work screams along with his vocals in many tracks like the afore-mentioned “Negative Affirmations”, “Sunshine” and “Triton”. Smoother, calmer work can be found here as well, such as in album opener “Talk Slow,” “Con Colmillo” and “Every Day”, but there’s also a smattering of classic post punk on the title track and album closer “Rat King”.
No matter what the genre or sound the duo are exploring on Radio Fantasma, it’s clear Mother Ghost took the time to really develop the sound and the result is a wildly entertaining and musically varied offering. It’s creatively likely one of the most raw and honest post punk albums of the year as well. It’s about time they came back and filled that gap.
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