SCHOOLYARD GHOSTS

Although admittedly this album is not for everyone. It is for me! Schoolyard Ghosts is an album of Lush Sonic landscapes, evocative lyrics, and a haunting beauty that is not often found in much of todays music. To listen to this album one must be in a certain mindset, a proper mood for listening might be to sit back and listen letting it wash over you like the waves on a moonlit beach.

Perhaps put this in your car stereo and drive through the countryside on a full moon night. Letting go of all the past, knowing that everything will be alright and moving towards the future without worry or care. Tim Bowness has a certain style that is soft filled with passion and grace. You survived yourself. You survived inside the lost world. The dreams of love repeat. Tim's lyrics from Truenorth paired with Steven Wilson's sound paintings live together in perfect harmony in a timeless space.

Steven has once again demonstrated that he is a master at mixing in 5.1 surround. You can tell the man takes his love for music and minute details to the hilt in this album. There are beautiful string arrangements, mixed with texturing of crackles and pops but all in the right places and at the right times. This album is haunting but in a beautiful way. The duo of Wilson and Bowness once again create a timeless masterpiece.

This is a beautiful work of art! I found myself looking at the packaging, reading the liner notes, and dissecting the lyrics. I felt as if I were back in my childhood days when you would buy an LP and do all the things mentioned above. Although we have all been in the schoolyard and some of those memories are haunting, we have all moved on and found that we have survived. Do yourself a favor, listen to this album and let it take you back, wash over you like a warm blanket of sand, and let it wash back out to sea without holding on.

I think that you will find the beauty in this if you just stop your world for an hour or so and let all your cares drift out the window and melt away into the ether.