New Music: GhostChant - Laid To Rest

London come Liverpool producer GhostChant has quietly been making moves this year, with acclaimed opening slots for xxxy, Paleman and Dirty Beaches and a deal with BBE Records (Barely Breaking Even) alongside the likes of Giles Peterson and you guessed it; Dj Jazzy Jeff.  New single Laid To Rest is the first cut from his unnamed debut album due early next year, and comes alongside two remixes from Birmingham’s BangaTang and Tru Thoughts alumni Chimpo.

Sharp, high-pitched stabs tip-toe impishly around a rolling metal on metal drum & bass beat and unsettling vinyl static. Textures build slowly as aesthetics are tentatively introduced around an affected, steady vocal loop, before we are taken into a blockbuster climax of sweeping synths and cinematic bombast, flooded with top-heavy string passages as a disturbed cry wails from some far off, distant corner. Cornwell’s skill is in creating textures that are evocative and grandiose without falling into the verbose. Like much of his recorded output to date, Laid To Rest forms this vast, expansive backdrop without losing control of its boundaries; using the intrinsic rhythmic qualities of the recurring  ‘You don’t know the way’ vocal loop to anchor the song, as if it’s the last remaining structure of a world that is crashing down.