Former Ghosts

Former Ghosts is a project of Freddy Ruppert, former member of This Song Is a Mess But So Am I, with loose collaborations from multiple people including Xiu Xiu frontman Jamie Stewart, Zola Jesus originator Nika Roza Danilova, Yasmine Kittles of Tearist, Annie Lewandowski of Powerdove, and Carla Bozulich. Past live incarnations have included Jherek Bischoff and Sam Mickens. Ruppert is the lead songwriter on this project. The title of the debut, Fleurs, is a reference to the white-flowered iris (Iris germanica).[1][2]

Former Ghosts
Freddy Ruppert of Former Ghosts and Zola Jesus performing in Stockholm, November 2010.
Background information
GenresSynthpop
Post-punk
LabelsUpset The Rhythm
The Native Sound
Associated actsThis Song Is a Mess But So Am I
Xiu Xiu
Zola Jesus
Websiteformerghosts.com
MembersFreddy Ruppert
Jamie Stewart
Nika Roza Danilova
Yasmine Kittles

Formation

From an interview, Ruppert explained the formation of the band: "A lot of the songs were written before Former Ghosts even really came together as a full on band. Once I had decided that this was going to be a new music project for me, having Jamie on board just came naturally. We had always talked about doing a project in this kind of style but both of our schedules were just too busy to actually do it, but then it ended up working out this time around. Nika got involved because I am a big fan of her band Zola Jesus and I asked her to sing on a song and when she sent it back to me I was so blown away that I knew that I needed her to be a part of this band!"[3]

Critical reception

Pitchfork said the debut single, "Hold On", "sounds like what might've happened to Joy Division if Ian Curtis had bought a Casio and a four-track and fired the rest of the band."[4]

Allmusic.com gave Fleurs 3.5/5 stars and said that "Former Ghosts evoke isolation with a fearlessness that few of their peers can match."[5]

The blog, Fingers Become Thumbs, listed "Fleurs" as their album of the year (2009), stating: "In all seriousness, this is a dark and intense record in which Ruppert really puts himself out there, so much so that even listening to it can be emotionally draining. In saying that, by the standards of its members its by no means a ‘difficult’ listen, and in fact was intended to be the synth-pop side-project of Freddy and Jamie."[6]

Prefixmag.com found Fleurs to be "intermittently brilliant", but felt it could "benefit greatly from more collaboration and judicious editing of the track list".[7]

Discography

Music videos
  • Hold On (dir. Amir Shoucri) watch
  • Flowers (dir. Paul Rodriguez) watch
  • Taurean Nature (dir. Amir Shoucri) watch

References
  1. "Album Review: Former Ghosts - Fleurs". Prefixmag. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  2. "Freddy Ruppert homepage". Freddyruppert.com. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  3. Archived January 3, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Former Ghosts (Xiu Xiu/Zola Jesus Collaboration) Announce Album, Tour". Pitchfork. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  5. Heather Phares. "Fleurs - Former Ghosts - Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  6. Archived December 27, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Album Review: Former Ghosts - Fleurs". Prefixmag. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
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