Love Ghost drops new album ‘thirteen’

Coming out of Los Angeles more than a decade ago, Love Ghost has developed into one of alternative music’s more unpredictable and thoroughly compelling creative forces. Led by frontman Finnegan Bell, the project has never been content to stick within the boundaries of a single genre or identity and as such, its music exists in the spaces between contrasting emotions and sounds, bringing together beauty and disarray, melody and distortion and the unnerving relationship between life and death. Having started out as a local project, Love Ghost has grown into an international presence, with a catalogue that reflects an ongoing desire to experiment while keeping candid songwriting at its centre.

Across its releases, Love Ghost has moved between grunge, metal, hip hop, pop punk and acoustic songwriting, often allowing several of these influences to collide within the same track. Distortion-heavy breakdowns can sit alongside quieter, stripped back passages, creating a dynamic that mirrors the emotional contradictions running through the lyrics. Trauma, heartbreak and mental health are recurring subjects, approached with a directness that gives the music much of its thematic impact. By not viewing these difficult experiences from a distance, Finnegan brings them into focus, making emotion an essential part of the project’s identity.

That openness has helped Love Ghost build a devoted following well beyond its Los Angeles origins, while international touring and performances across four continents have expanded its reach and collaboration has introduced further dimensions to an already wide ranging sound. Mexico’s alternative and hip hop scenes have been particularly important, with Love Ghost linking up with Wiplash, Adan Cruz, Santa RM and Blnko, connections which reflect a creative outlook that’s not restricted by geography or genre, allowing different musical perspectives to become part of the project’s developing output.

More recently, a partnership with industrial music figure SKOLD, known for his work with Marilyn Manson and KMFDM, has marked another step in that ongoing exploration. It’s a collaboration that sits within Love Ghost’s wider interest in contrasting musical worlds, even as the project continues to move in directions that are difficult to predict. As always, the work remains closely tied to Finnegan’s own experiences and the emotions that continue to shape his writing.

The latest full-length release, thirteen, finds him exploring that personal sphere with uncompromising intensity, with Finnegan noting the record as perhaps the most vulnerable album he’s made thus far. Its title points towards a formative period in his life, as the age at which he was expelled from school and a time when he began to feel that he ultimately didn’t belong. Looking back, he identifies that sense of being permanently on the outside looking in as one of the central feelings behind the album. thirteen takes the form of an acoustic Midwest grunge record, moving away from the more aggressive stylings found elsewhere in Love Ghost’s catalogue while maintaining the project’s underlying conceptual tension.

Opened by “Church for a Vampire,” the eerie tones of choral vocalisations is met by smokey guitar chords and tapped percussive shots as Finnegan’s chanting vocals enter to cast a brooding scene. Building with crunching guitars and punching drums, the track launches with alternative rock energy as Finnegan’s belted vocals ring out above to deliver an anthemtic musical experience. “Pasadena” follows with elegant piano notes as the rustle of marching drums and moody vocals combine above intricate guitar backing to craft a gritty grunge rock outing brimming with memorable melodies and poignant lyricism.

“Into the Woods” glides with delicate piano notes before acoustic guitar tones usher in hushed vocals which spins flickering melodic lines above as pattering percussive patterns inject a steady forward motion and snaking lead guitar licks add bluesy vibes throughout. Tracks like “Am I Evil?” frame Finnegan’s highly affecting songwriting in a stripped back setting of dusty acoustic guitar chords and sparse textures. “Blood & Roses” leans into his penchant for catchy hooks with a beat-driven groove dashed with twanging guitar notes and compelling vocal performance, resulting in an infectious moment on the record.

“I Left My Home” starts with a military crowd chant which marches forward before dissolving as Finnegan’s melodic leads take over to set up a downtempo rock outing packed full of emotive lyrics and moving tone. Closing the album with the thirteenth track “Filthy Hands,” muted piano notes and tender vocals swirl to deliver a heartfelt finale to the epic new full-length record from Love Ghost. Across a career defined by constant movement between styles, Finnegan Bell has arrived at a record that turns towards the past, confronting the experience of not belonging and searching for beauty in the memories that remain.

Listen to thirteen below