High Wire Brigade - 'Ghosts' Single Review

When is a single review not a single review? When the track being reviewed is not a single of course!

So welcome to my non single review of a track so powerful and full of raw emotion that in my humble opinion it should be a single. Being a hidden gem is such a waste! High Wire Brigade are a Garage Rock band from Stevenage who have appeared at local festivals, gigged around the pubs and clubs and have supported The Rifles. They specialise in anthemic songs with driving guitar, pounding percussion and powerful vocal deliveries.

Now that everyone is fully up to speed on who I am talking about and without further ado, why am I writing a review on a song that has not yet been released on the usual platforms. 'Ghosts', that’s why. It is a song so full of raw emotion that it pulls you in and then kicks you in the proverbials. In the words of Mark Hollis, who wrote and performed a vocal that is as powerful as it is full of agony ‘This was originally called 'Citalopram'. It's my ode to having a sporadically messed up head and the little ol' pills that have helped me along the way at times.’

The track starts with snare and cymbals and a rhythm that draws you in followed by a sublime, dirty guitar riff, before Mark kicks in with his vocals. From the first line you know that these words are from the heart, from bitter experience. There is light to the shade with tinkling before the vocal starts and the backing oooo’s before the line ‘I taste my own medicine’. You get the feeling that the band are supporting their bandmate as he lays his heart bare. Halfway through there is some great choppy guitar to beak up the rhythm, followed by great percussion, before some more filthy guitar riffs. The song ends with a despairing vocal which makes you think that the singer on stage is stronger than he realises. This is a heartfelt track full of angst and emotion which has an authenticity about it that makes you want more.

If you like this honest ode to anti depressants, and to validate a single review, check out their single ‘Hibernate’ on all the usual platforms. This is another slice of splendidness from this band. Not a band to play by the rules, they decided that their main single would be an eight and a half minute epic, which musically is hypnotic and lets you drift away, then ups the tempo, just to slow it down again. The beauty being that their formulae is that they have no formulae.