Captured Ghosts by Shadows on a River

These songs welcome you into themselves like a phantom's finger beckoning. They seem shorter than they are; by the time you're acquainted with your surroundings — relatively comfortable in them — they're over. It's not exactly abrupt... just enough to ensure you'll consider its message in that space between the end and the beginning of the next song.

One thing that makes this album feel so good is that it absolutely builds upon the band's debut LP: there are similar chord changes, melodies, tempos, et cetera. However, Captured Ghosts experiments more with timbre — which is terribly exciting, because it's done well; the added layers and sounds don't call too much attention to themselves. They settle in, and support the songs. This is a band that's comfortable in its own skin pushing its own buttons. The players are all in the pocket, they know who they are and what they're doing. But something about the songs does indeed seem haunted.

This album is less of a collection of songs and more of a whole message in separate movements. Shadows On a River's debut has so many tunes that seem to stand on their own, and, being a self-titled release, they served the purpose of establishing the band's sound and identity. The songs on this album all feel like different parts of the same story; and it's a story you're just enthralled by, and delight in listening to. The sad bits don't make you sad — you just feel fulfilled from having gotten to hear what the ghosts have to say. — Isaac Arms for Smile Politely

David Henson and Danny Hynds making strangely familiar noises at each other across the world.

Pennsylvania / Japan

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