Space Ghost

by Attia Taylor

Overview

Also an activist, writer, and publisher, songwriter Attia Taylor released a trio of solo EPs during the late 2000s and early 2010s, in between her time with Girls Rock Philly and indie duo Strange Parts. These solo releases introduced her sparse, home-brewed, synthesizer-led approach to songs. As the 2010s turned the corner into the 2020s, Taylor's main focus was Womanly Magazine, a publication centered on the health and creative expression of women and non-binary readership. However, she still managed to complete this, her solo full-length and Lame-O Records debut, Space Ghost, her first solo release in over a decade. Lusher but still intimate and spacious in design, its lyrics look back to informative moments of longing and absence in her childhood. Unlike her prior releases, it was recorded in Philadelphia with producer Jeff Zeigler (the War on Drugs, Allison Crutchfield), who was careful not to move Taylor's sound far from its bedroom origins. Playful introduction "Seventy," for instance, consists of squishy, '80s-type keyboard tones delivered one note at a time alongside soft, spacy, high-pitched vocals, and spoon-and-can-like percussion. Twinkly timbres, layered vocal lines, and a bass drum and tambourine keeping 6/8 time mark the calliope-evoking "Mildest Winner," which seems to address childhood abandonment, ending with the repeated line "Someone come and get me." This juxtaposition of quirky, lively accompaniment and distressed lyrics continues through songs like the post-punky "Basic Economics," marching organ tune "Broad and Cherry," and the warped, David Lynchian "Alone," which includes lyrics like "My broken nose is a violet/On a beautiful day we are violent." While some songs' lyrics are more inscrutable than others (the catchy "Dog and Pony Show"), and there's the occasional melancholier entry (the birthday-themed "Wanna Go"), buoyant melodies and arrangements that are part hypnotic and part whimsical dominate on an intriguing debut. ~ Marcy Donelson

Product Details

Release Date:	07/08/2022
Label:	Lame-O Records / Run For Cover Records
UPC:	0810097910294
Rank:	111409

Tracks

1. Seventy
2. Mildest Winner
3. Basic Economics
4. Space Ghost
5. Broad and Cherry
6. Dog and Pony Show
7. Baby Ain't Nobody
8. Wanna Go
9. Wanderer
10. Alone

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Attia Taylor   Primary Artist
Corey Duncan   Drums

Technical Credits

Attia Taylor   Engineer,Mixing,Composer
Jeff Zeigler   Producer,Mixing,Engineer
Ryan Schwabe   Mastering
Jeremie Rose Wimbrow   Design
Megan Cauley   Mixing,Engineer,Producer
Michael McDermott   Mixing,Producer,Engineer