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Lusitanian Ghosts release “Exotic Quixotic” Nov. 19th

Lusitanian Ghosts’ second album, recorded at Clouds Hill in January 2020, is finally set for a digital release Nov. 19th, to be followed by the vinyl LP at a date yet to be announced.

The release will be preceded, this October 15th, by the latest single “Never Less Than Lonely”, which vocalist Neil Leyton recalls “was the first song written for the new album, we actually pondered playing it live back in 2019 before the pandemic hit.”

Lusitanian Ghosts will celebrate the release of “Exotic Quixotic” with a live-streamed concert from Forum Luisa Todi in Setubal “which is like our second home, Vasco (aka OMIRI) and Joana Negrão from Seiva live there, as do my half-brother and sister” explains Leyton. More details regarding the live-streamed concert will be announced soon.

Meanwhile you can pre-save the single and album, pre-following Lusitanian Ghosts on the following links on the platform of your choice. The “Never Less Than Lonely” single also groups the “Exotic Quixotic” singles released up to the moment, so as to make an EP or playlist of the songs released this far, heralding the new album in November.

https://lnk.to/neverless

https://lnk.to/exoticquixotic

Exotic Quixotic cover art by Johan Lindberg Brusewitz.

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Lusitanian Ghosts release “Soul Deranium” single!

International collective Lusitanian Ghosts step out of the shadows with new single ‘Soul Deranium’, an instant summer anthem intended as a “protest song for the ages”.

The chiming, finger-clicking single comes ahead of new album Exotic Quixotic (out September 10) and follows the April release of the LP’s title track; a rallying song for artists marking the anniversary of Portugal’s non-violent uprising against dictatorship in 1974.

Central to ‘Soul Deranium’ are resonating chordophones – ancient Portuguese instruments the Ghosts resurrect as the basis of their melodic, seductive 21st century rock n roll.

Set to breezy rhythms, this apparently blithe clap-along evokes classic Marc Bolan and T.Rex tracks, complete with ambiguous, sometimes unsettling lyrics which offer much to reflect on; gun violence, gender stereotypes and the hangover trauma of the Trump presidency.

“We’re fully aware ‘deranium’ is not a real word,” says Lisbon-born, Canada-raised musician Neil Leyton, who takes lead vocals on the track, written by Swedish multi-instrumentalist Micke Ghost. “Micke’s English is a lot better than he makes it out to be but he has a knack for making up pseudo-English words in a really funny way.”

Ghost says: “I was singing ’21st century boy’ and ‘soul deranium’ or something like that on the demo that I sent Neil but never intended it to be a part of the lyrics. Then I got the finished song back, Neil was singing ‘deranium’. That’s when I asked if it was an actual word.”

“I often write lyrics based on the sounds of Micke’s Swedish humming on our demos,” rejoins Leyton. “’Deranium’ came from there and to me it sounds like it could be a condition, a sort of uranium poisoning leading to deranged, enlightened, ultra-inspired and potentially psychotic behaviour.”

“Not that any of our songs compare, but if Marc Bolan can sing about Telegram Sams and Cosmic Dancers,” says Leyton, “I wanted to open our new album with a song about someone engaging in ludicrous amounts of Clockwork Orange X-rated self-indulgence, all for the toppermost possible good of humanity – all entirely made up, of course. But still, in its own way: a protest song for the ages. You are invited!”

Listen here: lnk.to/deranium

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Lusitanian Ghosts release new single, “Exotic Quixotic”, celebrating creativity and humanism on the eve of the anniversary of the Portuguese Carnation Revolution, 25th of April 1974:

Lusitanian Ghosts issue ‘Exotic Quixotic’, a rallying anthem for artists and dreamers to “fight the good fight” in the face of rising populism.

The international collective release the defiant, uplifting track to mark the 47th anniversary of the  Portuguese Carnation Revolution when civilians took to the streets against the fascist regime which had held the country in an iron grip for almost half a century.

Just as the revolution was first signaled by a radio broadcast of the now-iconic Grandola, Vila Morena by the banned folk musician José Afonso, ‘Exotic Quixotic’ celebrates the value of artists, musicians and creativity at a time when concert halls, theatres, nightclubs and bars have been silent for many months.

The track is the lead single from Lusitanian Ghosts’ forthcoming album Exotic Quixotic, which is set for release in September 2021. Recorded at Clouds Hill Studios in Hamburg with Sebastian Muxfeldt, it follows Lusitanian Ghosts’ 2019 self-titled debut LP, a “must-listen”, according to No Depression, for fans of “provocative, intellectually stimulating rock music”.

This autumn’s LP will see the collective, which hinges around Lisbon-born singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Neil Leyton and his Swedish counterpart Micke Ghost, journey deeper into their recasting of forgotten traditional chordophones as the basis for literate, 21st century indie rock.

For now, Ghost takes lead vocals on ‘Exotic Quixotic’, the springtime anthem also featuring the voices of Sasa Vipotnik from Slovenia’s AKA Neomi, Finnish author-musician Petri Leppanen and Joana Negrão from Portugal’s Seiva.

Lusitanian Ghosts collective members Vasco Casais, Claudia Teles and João Sousa shot the footage for the lyric video in their respective regions of Torres Vedras and Setúbal as they could not travel beyond their municipality due to pandemic restrictions. Watch it HERE.

“I don’t speak Slovenian or Finnish, so I can’t tell you what Sasa and Petri are saying,” says Leyton, who wrote Exotic Quixotic’s lyrics, “but what Joana is saying is that, even though it’s hard to be an artist day-in, day-out, she is fighting the good fight and she’s proud of that.”

He continues: “Exotic Quixotic is an ode to being an artist in a digital century threatened once again by the rise of social-media powered populism. We chose to release it close to the 25th April, the date of the Carnation Revolution in Portugal. I was just three years old when the Portuguese army hit the streets, on cue, triggered by a José Afonso song. Not that any of our songs compare, but we hope it will send vibes of strength and courage to every artist currently enduring this pandemic.”

lnk.to/quixotic

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Trees Up North releases debut album Feb 26th!

Trees Up North is the “band” pseudonym of Norwegian singer-songwriter Hans Stop. Stop makes no secret of the fact that this self titled debut album will contain various expressions that have been shaped by his previous diverse musical journeys. What’s common to all the songs on the upcoming album is the atmosphere that 10 days in Parr Street Studio in Liverpool together with his best friends created in itself.

“This was what I really wanted to do. To go to Liverpool with my best buddies and an “everlasting” list of different songs, written over the last ten years in voluntary isolation and solitude. We all rigged up in the same room. We started with song number 1 on that list, and my dedicated music travel companions would then start shaping the sound and expression with me live in the studio. Song by song we would continue down the list until the session ended and the plane brought us back to Norway.”

The creative result is a self titled debut album with 10 songs that in 10 different ways represent Trees Up North’s desire to convey something genuinely alive and organic to the listener: “The music happened in that specific room in Parr Street. Hopefully, all the different moods and expressions this musical collaboration resulted in during the ten days are present on the album. That we managed to capture an atmosphere of collective playing and personal intensity.”

Listen here: lnk.to/treesupnorth

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Trees Up North interviewed on Leyton’s Music Lives

To mark the release of his new single “Easy” as well as the announcement of the Trees Up North self-titled debut album coming February 26th, Hans Stop aka Trees Up North is interviewed on the Leyton’s Music Lives online radio show this Friday: https://www.mixcloud.com/NeilLeyton/

Trees Up North discusses his life in music, from his earliest music memories through music school, Locomotives, winning a Norwegian Grammy, Amundsen and finally the upcoming Trees Up North album – a whole life in music!

Tune in to listen to the interview here: /www.mixcloud.com/NeilLeyton/

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Trees Up North announce debut album release date and new single, “Easy”

A long time in the making, Trees Up North’s debut album will be released on February 26th.

Trees Up North is the “band” pseudonym of Norwegian singer-songwriter Hans Stop. Stop makes no secret of the fact that this self titled debut album will contain various expressions that have been shaped by his previous diverse musical journeys. What’s common to all the songs on the upcoming album is the atmosphere that 10 days in Parr Street Studio in Liverpool together with his best friends created in itself.

“This was what I really wanted to do. To go to Liverpool with my best buddies and an “everlasting” list of different songs, written over the last ten years in voluntary isolation and solitude. We all rigged up in the same room. We started with song number 1 on that list, and my dedicated music travel companions would then start shaping the sound and expression with me live in the studio. Song by song we would continue down the list until the session ended and the plane brought us back to Norway.”

The creative result is a self titled debut album with 10 songs that in 10 different ways represent Trees Up North’s desire to convey something genuinely alive and organic to the listener: “The music happened in that specific room in Parr Street. Hopefully, all the different moods and expressions this musical collaboration resulted in during the ten days are present on the album. That we managed to capture an atmosphere of collective playing and personal intensity.”

Leading up to the debut of Trees Up North’s debut album comes the new single “Easy”, out February 12th.

Always reaching out and connecting through music, Trees Up North first gives the audience a new musical taste of what they can expect. The new single release, Easy is perhaps the closest Trees Up North comes to a «love ballad» in the sense of bittersweet lyrics and a beautiful melody, with inspiration drawn from classic songwriting in its most melancholic mood. In that sense, Easy represents something different from the two earlier releases, Ladder and Underwater, which sounded more monumental and band orchestrated. Compared to those, Easy is a quiet, melancholic resting place for the romantics among us.

Follow this link to pre-save, pre-add, and follow Trees Up North on your favourite streaming platform.

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Trees Up North release December single, “Underwater”

Underwater

Norway’s Trees Up North return with their third single release, with “Underwater” dropping December 4th. Trees Up North writes:

“Keeping your breath under water for a long time is an exercise few of us master. The desperate but exciting feeling you get when you realize that the air in the lungs is about to run out, and you have to rise to the surface. Each time surprised at how different these two worlds are experienced. Always above or below the surface. Safe on land, one immediately longs to return to the dark, peaceful depths where, only a moment ago, one struggled to survive.”

UNDERWATER is Trees Up North’s third song taken from his upcoming debut album with expected release in January 2021. His ability to combine the beautiful with the dark comes into its own in this monumental song.

What is the song trying to describe for the listener? Perhaps an emotional balancing act you experience in the intimate meeting with someone you feel a strong connection with. The feeling of being able to live and love and breathe freely. The longing to dive into the dark lonely silence where one fights for one’s own life.

Or is it the opposite?

It has been a hard year. European Phonographic is proud to release this moving song, that somehow makes for an adequate recapitulation for 2020. Top o’ the season to you.

Follow Trees Up North and be the first to listen: https://lnk.to/tupuw

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Lusitanian Ghosts issue a passionate political statement with their latest single ‘For the Wicked’, out 13th November 2020

Lusitanian Ghosts return with their latest single ‘For The Wicked’, following the recent release of uplifting ode to life and love ‘All the Sounds’. The international collective is led by singer-songwriter and producer Neil Leyton and Swedish guitarist, singer and multi-instrumentalist Micke Ghost, with a cast of musical associates, including João Sousa, Janne Olsson, Vasco Ribeiro Casais (aka OMIRI) and Abel Beja of Primitive Reason.

This time Lusitanian Ghosts switch gears, moving in a more wistful direction while still making innovative use of their trademark Portuguese chordophone instruments. ‘For The Wicked’ is an ardent political address that speaks to a lost and apathetic society, accompanied by Lusitanian Ghosts’ masterful backdrop of ancient strings: the viola Amarantina, viola Braguesa, viola Campaniça (on loan from O Gajo) and viola Terceira.

It is a melodically vivid and passionate reckoning of those with self-righteous beliefs that sanctimoniously disregard the welfare of humanity, believing only in their own worth. It’s tinged with hostility and resentment, while also providing a strangely celebratory sense of melancholia as the track builds gradually to its anthemic finale. 

Speaking of the single’s focal point, Neil Leyton says; “I shouldn’t have to spell it out, but like the Manics’ “Design for Life”, I am not singing the chorus in my own voice but rather I’m taking on the role of those high-and-mighty power-hungry populists, the ruling elites or even religious zealots who believe bad things will never happen to them because they’re closer to god – or in some cases just lawyers, money or power”.

Lilting yet sharp in its lyricism, the track switches seamlessly from a repetitive staccato to a euphoric flood of sound, drawing out the song’s themes and commentary. As Neil sums up, “This one is an open critique against religious or political extremism, populism, or any other kind of anti-humanist behaviour. To the Wicked we say: good riddance!” 

‘For The Wicked’ is out on 13th November 2020 via European Phonographic: lnk.to/FortheWicked

For all media enquiries contact
Anastasia Connor (UK) – anastasia@noiseunit.co
Jeroen Siebens (European radio) – jeroen@radioplugging.eu

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TREES UP NORTH RELEASES NEW SINGLE “LADDER”

TREES UP NORTH releases his new single “Ladder” August 28th via European Phonographic. 

TREES UP NORTH is the “band” pseudonym of Norwegian singer-songwriter Hans Stop.  Stop was born and raised on an old farm in the middle of Norway where he now resides. 

Through his strongly personal expression, TREES UP NORTH establishes an organic and pulsating space for the listener where text and music communicate a human need for reflection and maturity. Where understanding the world requires you to take a certain distance from it.

From his Nordic exile TREES UP NORTH observes the public noise from the outside world. Surrounded by an increasingly self-centered culture of mass consumption and alienation, he creates music that goes beyond this tyranny of shallow intimacy. A self-imposed solitude has become his creative weapon, creating music that leaves it up to the listener to decide for themselves whether they want to enter his musical universe on their own terms. 

“A ladder has two different directions. The upward direction often represents progress and coveted goals a person wants to achieve. The other represents to a greater extent the unknown and foreign, as if one climbs into a darkness that hides the greatest secrets and the deepest thoughts. That someone wants to share this with you can be a blessing or a curse.” 

In the process of bringing his music to life, the studio recordings are made together with some of his best friends and fellow musicians during a few winter nights in an unhurried, organic fashion. Here they all manage to capture an atmosphere of collective playing and personal intensity that feels no rush towards immediate release – music for music’s sake that will eventually lead the way to a TREES UP NORTH debut album. 

www.treesupnorth.com