Drift away with 'Ghost Town'.
Mike Kinsella is an iconic figure in the Chicago indie scene - he's been part of American Football, Owls, Cap'n Jazz and Joan of Arc, after all, which are all legends in their own right. Now he's back when the latest offering from Owen, his solo project, which has always been a major departure from Kinsella's previous projects. Owen is softer and without a need to prove itself, and Kinsella demonstrates that here.
Ghost Town follows in the footsteps of previous Owen releases, keeping the tradition of introspective - and often nostalgic - lyrics and soft guitar tones. One of the more noticeable changes of Ghost Town, however, is the toning down of the more intricate melodies, choosing instead to pare off the distractions. Like Coco Chanel once advised, with Ghost Town Kinsella is taking off the last accessory that he put on - and in a way that serves only to further showcase the carefully crafted song structures.
The appropriately peculiar Too Many Moons is a lovely opener - and that's meant in every sense of the word. I Believe is a piano ballad which inspires nothing short of reverence - "Hallelujah/I just found Jesus," Kinsella sings, with the backing of a choir, and it feels like one man's struggle not to save the world, but to accept it.
Perhaps because Owen is only made up of Kinsella, there's no doubt that Ghost Town is a quietly personal record. This puts it in danger at times of straying too far into excessive introspection. While it's interesting to feel as though we're gaining an insight into Kinsella's emotions and feelings - and music benefits from being intensely personal at least nine times out of ten - there can come a point when it can go too far. Fortunately, this is mostly avoided.
Ghost Town is lo-fi indie-pop at its best; lo-fi is always a tricky thing to achieve without sounding underproduced and rough, but this is an example of how to do it right. Kinsella evokes a resonance that strikes a chord with any listener. Ghost Town takes us on a journey through the moonlight - and if Kinsella sometimes wanders off in the dark without us, it's all the more interesting for that.