London-based band Ghosts Of Our Former Selves are comprised of singer Theo Brehony, guitarist Sanderson Rocha and producer Fred Ala. Theo Brehony sang on and co-wrote the world wide Freestylers hit, “Push Up”, he’s also supported Beyonce on tour and counts Elton John as fan of his soulful voice. Originally hailing from Sao Paulo, Sanderson Rocha is a constant creator of funk, soul and rock guitar and all styles in between. Fred Ala has worked with multiple studio legends including Gus Dudgeon (Elton John, Bowie) and Robin Miller (Sade), and is a master hip hop beats maker.
Their grooving contemporary soul music addresses everything from a relationship where time is running out, fathers, living like it’s your last day, internet dating, Trump, Brexit, Glastonbury and the visions in your head. With their live shows, they’re a storming force of funk and have supported Beverley Knight on tour and played Secret Garden festival.
Last year they released their sophomore album Night Church laying out the band’s love of funk but also their fascination with synth sounds and classic songwriting. The most recent single from the record, “Beautiful World” is an up-tempo slice of modern soul.
Working with funk keyboard virtuoso Jon Moody (Frank Moody), the band recorded “Beautiful World” at Metropolis studios in London. The track perfectly captures their penchant for creating upbeat rhythm-driven music to full of uplifting energy. As is a trademark of their songwriting, the sound and title of Beautiful World belie its deeper meaning and a deeper dive into the lyrics reveals a poignant contrast of dark and light.
On the track, singer and lyricist Theo offers, “It’s actually about feeling trapped by life – I’m having a conversation with myself in the song. You start negotiating with yourself making plans and promises but you have to be careful not to fool yourself.”
Adding, “You can turn around and life has passed you by. I always had this feeling that the world is so beautiful that you have to live like it’s your last day.”
The single is accompanied by a music video, which sees Theo and Fred in London but also contains footage of the band’s last tour in France. Theo adds, “It was a wild time just before the pandemic and we were playing at castles and vineyards. We kind of built up a camp of followers because we did it two years in a row. We decided to have a small camera crew follow us around the second time and this is the result.”
Watch the video for Beautiful World below
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