Ghost (album)

***Ghost*** is the fourteenth studio album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend, the fourth of six albums in the Devin Townsend Project ("DTP") series, and the final entry of the *Contain Us* quadrology. It was released on June 20, 2011 simultaneously with the quadrology's third entry, *Deconstruction*; it can be purchased together or separately. Townsend has stated that the album "is the mellowest (by far) and prettiest record I've done so far".

"Dark Matters" was later used as the title for the Ziltoid portion of *Z²*.

## Hevydevy.com description

> *Ghost was meant as a conclusion, (Which it turns out it was not) …essentially a 'new-age' sort of acoustic album, it's a wind-down after Deconstruction. Where Decon put me into a fury of creative situations, Ghost was made in tandem as a very conscious 'head massage'. A record that concludes the fear of Ki, the delusion of Addicted and the fury of Deconstruction by essentially saying. 'There are no answers, you know no more now that when you started…but the experience has taught you acceptance'. And that’s really the point of the whole DTP project. I knew during Ziltoid that I was interested in making a bunch of intense symphonic statements in the future, but before I was going to allow myself the liberty to do so, I needed to clarify my past statements. I needed to prove to myself I wasn't afraid of myself, and that I could work on autopilot and walk into any musical situation without it absorbing me and trumping the joy of it. Ghost was recorded as a testament to my childhood love of the kind of 'new-age' genre, and ironically, one of my first inspirations in that genre was a duo called 'Emerald Web', which consisted of a husband and wife team. Their music was a huge soundtrack to my childhood, and as fate would have it, the flautist on Ghost is Kat Epple, who played the flute in Emerald Web. Ghost is a very important record for me, and was technically almost as challenging as Deconstruction is it's execution.*
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## Live

*Ghost* was performed in its entirety once, on November 13, 2011, at the Union Chapel in London, England. The performance was filmed and recorded for the *By a Thread* CD/DVD box set, along with performances of the other three DTP *Contain Us* quadrology albums.

## *Ghost²*

*Ghost* was originally to be a double album, but was ultimately released as a single disc; *Ghost²* would have included the leftover material written and recorded at the same time. Townsend has stated that these tracks were "too dark" and "heavier" than the rest of *Ghost*, which didn't fit the vibe of *Ghost*. *Ghost²* was originally to be released in September 2011 and its first half was included as an MP3 download for customers who preordered *The Calm and the Storm* bundle of *Deconstruction* and *Ghost* through Century Media.

Its intended second song, "Drench," was shared by Townsend on his official SoundCloud account. Later, Mackie Gear posted the intended fourth track, "Fall," on their SoundCloud.

On August 22, 2012, Townsend officially cancelled its release altogether, saying, "I tried to finish *Ghost²* the other day, but it's not solid enough. Doesn't engage. Going to use the best bits and art for elements of *Z²*." Some of these songs were eventually released on *Contain Us* and the bonus disc included with *Casualties of Cool*.

## Reception

The album was well received by Metal Hammer, who said, "*Ghost* could be the most convincing album of his career".

## Track listing

All songs written by Devin Townsend except where noted.

1. "Fly" (4:15)
2. "Heart Baby" (5:55)
3. "Feather" (11:30)
4. "Kawaii" (2:52)
5. "Ghost" (6:24)
6. "Blackberry" (4:53)
7. "Monsoon" (4:37) [Townsend, Epple, Young]
8. "Dark Matters" (1:57)
9. "Texada" (9:30)
10. "Seams" (4:04)
11. "Infinite Ocean" (8:01) [Townsend, Young, St-Jean]
12. "As You Were" (8:47)
**iTunes exclusive bonus track**
13. "Radial Highway" (6:49)

## Personnel

* Devin Townsend – guitars, vocals, bass, synth, ambience, banjo
* Kat Epple – flute, woodwinds
* Dave Young – keyboards, Nord synths, harmonium, Ableton Live, mandolin
* Mike St-Jean – drums, percussion
* Katrina Natale – vocals

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 DEVIN TOWNSEND: 'Deconstruction', 'Ghost' Albums To Arrive This Summer; Free Live EP Delayed
2. ↑ THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT's 'Deconstruction', 'Ghost' Albums Get Release Date
3. ↑ DEVIN TOWNSEND: Special U.K. Shows To Be Filmed For Unique DVD
4. ↑ DRENCH by Devin Townsend!
5. ↑ Devin Townsend Project - Fall by MackieGear
6. ↑ Devin Townsend's Twitter
7. ↑ Metal Hammer UK issue 219
8. ↑ DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT: GHOST UNVEILED – RADIO METAL

## External Links

* *Ghost* on Discogs
* *The Calm & the Storm* on Discogs