Album Review: Sister Ghost, Beyond The Water

The art of the debut is usually to cement the artist’s voice. However, Sister Ghost’s work impressively defies convention, with her debut album Beyond The Water, synthesising different fibres. It's a portrait of the artist as a twenty-something queer woman from a tiny village in rural Ireland – it finds her trying to break past the confines of her hometown, and push at the boundaries of ambition.

Fittingly, Beyond The Water kicks off at a rollicking pace, with 'She’s Wild' melding jangling riffage and motorik pulse, in a manner reminiscent of Orla Garland and Sprints. Indeed, the pace hardly lets up across the 12 tracks – this is a record tailor-made for sweaty, head-banging crowds.

Sister Ghost’s lyrics, meanwhile, flesh out the agony and the ecstasy of life and love. ‘Dark Matter’ explores the alienation of having to hide the true self in queer relationships, as the singer ponders, “Why do you burn my heart as I wipe away your tears?” Elsewhere, ‘Cut Like A Thorn’ is a torch song for scorned lovers that boasts real emotional power.

A hugely accomplished debut.

7/10