Dan Webb shares new single “Hungry Ghosts”

Based in Singapore, Australian composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Dan Webb has spent almost two decades walking an entirely unique musical path. His work appears in a constant state of flux, bringing together jazz, rock and electronic music into psychedelic compositions driven by curiosity and adventurous sonic exploration. Every project seems to open another creative door, building on the last while challenging where instrumental and genre agnostic music can go next.

Since 2008, he’s gone from progressive keyboard-driven rock towards experimental post punk, electro jazz and increasingly experimental fusion, creating music that shifts between styles. Albums including Sandstorm, Oedipus The King and Exotic Erotic Concoction each represent different stages of that voyage, all linked by a desire to uncover new areas on the musical map. His most recent LP, Sunshine/Dialogue, earned widespread critical acclaim and secured Dan a nomination for Self-Producing Artist of the Year at the 2024 Music Producers & Engineers’ Guild of Australia Awards.

As both composer and producer, he’s consistently shaped every aspect of his music himself, establishing a DIY ethos driven by exploration over commercial formulas. Now entering what’s set to be his most ambitious creative period thus far, Dan continues to expand his musical universe through international collaborations and increasingly adventurous ideas. His latest single titled “Hungry Ghosts” represents another stride step forward via an instrumental piece which brings together an exceptional group of collaborators while continuing Dan’s fascination with psychedelic jazz rock fusion.

Although based in instrumental music, the track carries a strong emotional and conceptual context, with the inspiration for the track following Dan’s move from Melbourne to Singapore in 2023. Immersed in a completely new environment, culture and rhythm of life, he found creative influence in Singapore’s annual Hungry Ghost Festival, a Buddhist tradition centred around remembrance, spirits and the mysterious spaces that exist between different worlds. “Hungry Ghosts” features drummer Clive Deamer, whose work includes Radiohead and Portishead, keyboardist Dennis Hamm, known for collaborating with Thundercat and guitarist Bob Lanzetti of Snarky Puppy.

Opened by the rustle of lively drums, the track develops with gliding bass notes and airy synth textures to form a spacey soundscape that develops with slick, flange-tinged guitar leads. Rolling with infectious groove and hazy atmosphere, the composition flows with bright key flickers and the stutter of fractured rhythmic breaks, taking listeners on an engrossing musical journey unlike any other. Reaching a stunning finale where bright guitar leads ring out above the twang of chords and shuffle of drums, the arrangement surges before its abrupt close.

It’s a spectacular display of Dan Webb’s creativity and compositional flair as well as the extraordinary musicianship panache of his collaborators. Accompanying the single is a colourful music video created entirely within Webb Warp, a free browser application designed and built by Dan himself. The synesthetic platform enables users to manipulate audio stems into reactive three-dimensional audiovisual artworks in real time, expanding the overlap between music, technology and visual art.

Commenting on the release, Dan shares, “Hungry Ghosts became a meditation on leaving one life behind and stepping into another. The festival is rooted in rituals of remembrance, wandering spirits, and the space between worlds, which mirrored my own psychological experience of relocating and rebuilding.”

Listen to Hungry Ghosts below

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