CEREMONY make their Relapse Records debut with their highly ambitious new album, ‘In the Spirit World Now‘! The album sees CEREMONY at the height of their creative output, as the always-evolving Rohnert Park quintet take various influences from post punk and rock to create one of the summer’s most compelling and infectious records.
“In the Spirit World Now” is full of layered sonic fury and anxiety, each song building up to a point and then descending down through a militant, catchy hook. โTurn Away the Bad Thingโ sets the tone, guitars climbing around the driving bass line, as Ross Farrar sings, โItโs getting harder for me to be alright/Eyes adjusting to the dark/The momentum of all these last resorts built inside of me.โ Songs like โPresaging the Endโ and โCalming Waterโ feel romantic and distressed, while โFurther I Wasโ and โYears of Loveโ are driven by Farrarโs rebellious energy as he repeats the hook with a deadpan realness. โYears of love can be forgotten/In the hatred of a day.โ But the true stand-out is the title track, โIn the Spirit World Nowโ, a haunting pop gem with a sticky chorus and lead synth riff that plants itself in your head as Farrar chants the trackโs name over and over like a mantra.
โIn the Spirit World Now” is a sort of nebulous and ectoplasmic place where things may not be quite what they seem,โ he says. โIt means sh*t is about to get weird.โ The album marks a milestone for this Northern California punk outfit who have stayed true to themselves as songwriters throughout massive sonic growth throughout their storied career.
