Stray Ghost
Stray Ghost is Anthony Saggers, an English Neo-Classical / Ambient Composer.
In August 2008, the British label Highpointlowlife Records released his debut physical release, Losthilde. The album was a semi-autobiographical exploration of lost love, and received glowing reviews featuring in Textura’s top-of-year list.
Shortly after, blossoming label Dead Pilot Records released the E.P Fabula/Sjuzhet followed by the twenty minute, single track A House of Gold and Oak.
Released on net-label Phantom Channel the latter of these two showcased for the first time a more methodical and crystal-clear minimalist approach to his music.
In September 2009, Dead Pilot Records released the album, An Avalanche of Swollen Tongues which pushed further into the micro-sound design elements of the Stray Ghost sound, Saggers saying of this album:
“This (Avalanche..) was a strange one for me because one the on hand I suppose I can understand people thinking that it’s a sonically extreme album, in terms of harshness of tone I think it may be the noisiest; but at the same time emotionally I think it’s the most objective album I’ve done. By that I mean I didn’t set out to create a direct reflection of any inner state so much as try and push some of my own envelopes in terms of developing new creative sound-design techniques to use as a descriptive tool…pretentious as that may sound, it’s the truth….so maybe that‘s why the album came out sounding pretty intense.”
Shortly after Australian label Hidden Shoal Recordings made a deal with Anthony to release a follow-up to Losthilde, the album ended up being delayed for some time and so the E.P Each Paradise is a Lost Paradise was released as a stop-gap. Inspired by a life-reviving stay in Paris and adorned with French titles which allude to the ideas of Marcel Proust, the E.P added another dimension to what was becoming the Stray Ghost “sound”, clearing the air with lush mellotron washes and harmonic bell-tones.
Finally in February 2010 Hidden Shoal released “Nothing, but Death”, his most accomplished and emotionally dense album yet; showing the influence of classical composers Arvo Part and Gustav Mahler. Textura commented that “the recording sounds like a major step forward in an artistic evolution that has been exceptionally rapid.”
Composed over the course of, as Saggers puts it “the most difficult period of my life”, the album tells the story of the misery, suicide and personal redemption of the semi-fictional protagonist from 2008’s Losthilde. Reviews of the album have commented on the uplifting end section of the album, in spite of the albums excessively gloomy name. Saggers says of this:
“The end section of the album, and in particular the last track, is purposefully, if not uplifting then cleansing, as it’s supposed to illustrate the decision of the protagonist to commit suicide as a means of escaping such intense life-crippling misery. In a way by taking his own life through drowning he feels control over his existence for the first time, and is able to escape what he previously felt was inescapable. I suppose you could say that by killing this fictional alter-ego which I had created, I felt as if I had a method of escape myself, I would say that by channelling everything into this album I was able to gain a sense of closure which you just don’t always get in real life without such definite actions as suicide. ”
Anthony is currently completing work on a collaborative album with Eugene S. Robinson of the band Oxbow; and is also working on a new album.
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"Anthony Saggers, the genius who is Stray Ghost, has graced us with a new offering from the endless depths of his talent. “An Avalanche of Swollen Tongues” couldn’t be described in better words than those chosen by Anthony himself to articulate his project on the Stray Ghost MySpace page: “Noise, Beauty, and Sadness.” All three of these create the audio phantom that makes Stray Ghost such an exquisitely unforgettable listen. Take the opener for example. It creates the mood of a lonely gray seashore that is calmingly morose and almost still. When a minute and a half later, a phantasmic tide of atmospheric loops roars onto the scene and noisily crashes against rocks of fuzz. You practically feel the chill of a dark night prickle your skin and the damp of the ocean spray anchor you down. This dreamful state lasts for another twenty minutes, washing over the listener and easing them into the next five shorter tracks. What a beginning! Stray Ghost settles down like a cloud. You know it’s there but you can’t wrap your arms around it. It’s like an apparition getting a hold of Fabio Orsi’s sound art. Very introspective. Very personal. Absolutely essential. 9/10"
"The key to this music is space. Not cosmic space, but wide open landscapes with sweeping skies. Somewhere to escape to, away from the claustrophobia of modern life. Yes, there is sadness in this music, but also joy. The sort of wondrous feeling that a spectacular landscape or sunset or a clear sky on a pitch black night gives you. It’s Saggers best work yet."
"Of all the daring new punks giving old ambient stalwarts a run for their money, Saggers is at the top of the heap, a prime example of the refreshing and beautiful ambient renaissance of the past few years."
"Deeply mesmerizing and deliciously immersive"
"At the forefront of his scene, Saggers is an artist with extreme vision and a definitive brace on the current ambient sound."
"Losthilde has the heavy weight of years of disappointment on its shoulders. It’s a kind of epic symphony of loss in four movements."
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