Hania Rani - Ghosts (2LP) [Gondwana Records]

Hania Rani announces her new album, "Ghosts", bringing her composition and beautiful voice to the forefront and featuring special guests such as Patrick Watson, Ólafur Arnalds, and Duncan Bellamy (Portico Quartet).

"Ghosts" is the sound of an artist constantly evolving and, as the album title suggests, she repeatedly and gracefully moves between musical worlds: as a composer, singer, lyricist, and producer. This album builds on Rani's previous successes, "Esja" and "Home", with an expanded yet still minimalist setup of piano, keyboards, synthesizers (especially her Prophet), and features more of her mysterious and captivating voice. Her spirit is warm, inviting one into an ambitious double album that unfolds at an exquisite pace, informed by her revealing and exploratory live performances.

"Ghosts" is also an album of collaborations, as Rani features Patrick Watson, who brings a supernatural life to the ethereal "Dancing with Ghosts". "Whispering House" is written and recorded with her friend, Ólafur Arnalds, and casts a peaceful and inevitable spell; and Duncan Bellamy of Portico Quartet contributes vital loops to "Don’t Break My Heart" and "Thin Line".

Rani's lyrics are partly inspired by a two-month residency in a small studio in the mountains of Switzerland, where Rani was working on the soundtrack "On Giacometti" for a documentary about the renowned Swiss artist. "Where I stayed was formerly an old sanatorium in an area that used to be very popular, but now there are huge abandoned hotels where locals say ghosts live. I mean, it’s a kind of local belief system, these ghosts even have names! – but once you’re in full nature or somewhere abandoned, your imagination starts to work on a different level."

"The boundary between life and death," Rani summarizes, "and what really happens in between—this was what really interested me. Even singing the word ‘death’ was quite shocking. It’s such a strange word to say aloud, and people are afraid of it, which I found extremely interesting. Most of the songs probably still talk about love and things like that, but ‘Ghosts’ is more me thinking about having to face some kind of end."