The recent single from Shana Cleveland, ‘A Ghost’, is a strikingly beautiful piece of songwriting. The gentle pulse, warm guitar, ethereal Mellotron and her angelic voice combine to create something almost magical and hauntingly absorbing.
The song is particularly notable for the brilliantly inventive video, directed by Vice Cooler. It was inspired by the TV show ‘Just for Laughs: Gags’, in which people were silently subjected to pranks. She first discovered the show when travelling beyond the USA, staying in hotel rooms, and she says: “Depending on your comfort level for symbolism, it’s a story of someone coming back from the dead to haunt their BFF through cheap gags OR a metaphor for pregnancy OR a cautionary tale about colonialism.” Take your pick. Whichever you choose, it’s a visual feast with a dose of good humour and a hint of mystery. Most importantly, it’s perfectly executed and the end result is truly memorable – one for the highlights reel at the end of 2023.
The song is taken from the brand new album Manzanita, set for release tomorrow 10th March 2023. Cleveland wrote the album while pregnant and after giving birth, experiences that really influenced her songwriting. Cleveland says of this song and the way pregnancy informed her writing: “I never really gave pregnancy and childbirth very much thought, and when I did become pregnant I was surprised by how much of a psychedelic experience it was. A subtitle for this album could be: ‘What to Expect When You Are Open to the Mysteries of the Universe.’ When I sat outside the house looking out across the field, the chemistry and shape of my body constantly changing, I understood that I was no different than the plants and animals around me.” The songs are also inspired by the natural world and her move to California. She explains: “Part of moving here for me was living somewhere where writing outside was possible all year. This is a supernatural love album set in the California wilderness.”
Gorgeous music, set to a genuinely engaging video. Enjoy.
