Ghosts is the second studio album by British musician Siobhán Donaghy, released on 25 June 2007 by Parlophone. The album was produced by James Sanger and Marius de Vries, and was recorded over an eighteen month period at Sanger's studio in northern France. The standard edition contains no contributions from any of the songwriters or producers who collaborated with Donaghy on her debut album, 2001's Revolution in Me. She was reluctant to create a record continuing in that same musical direction, so recorded Ghosts with different collaborators in an effort to create a new sound.
Donaghy and Sanger's working relationship while recording was often fraught, due to their differing backgrounds and Sanger's issues with heroin addiction and mental health. Donaghy and numerous reviews said the songcraft and quality of production on Ghosts were enhanced by these experiences, as they resulted in a more emotive album. Its lyrics deal with themes of mental health, depression, lost love, independence, and survival. Musically, it is an alternative pop album with elements of blues, dance, and trip hop.
The album's artwork was created by Floria Sigismondi, and contains references to Miss Havisham and The Lady of Shalott. "Don't Give It Up" and "So You Say" preceded the album as commercial singles. Both songs performed moderately well on the UK and Scottish singles charts. The title track was also issued as a promotional single.
Despite positive reviews, Ghosts peaked at number 92 in the UK. CD versions of the album initially suffered from a manufacturing error, as they contained another artist's music. CDs containing the correct music were distributed several weeks after the album's release. Promotion was also impacted by a hostile takeover of Parlophone's parent company EMI. Two months after its release, Donaghy postponed a tour and abandoned promotion of the album to join the West End production of Rent Remixed.
Background and production Revolution in Me, Donaghy's debut solo album, was released by London Records in 2003. However, she departed the label soon after. The majority of the people she collaborated with to create Revolution in Me also left the label after its absorption into Warner Music Group. She instead began work on a follow-up independently, and sought new collaborators. The standard edition of Ghosts does not feature any of the songwriters and producers who worked on her debut. She said "as much as I adored my first record ... I didn't want to make a continuation of it. So I was after a fresh sound and I found a man with a vision."
Work on Ghosts began in 2005 with producer James Sanger. Recording took place over an eighteen month period, in Sanger's home studio at a 500 year old manor in northern France. The manor was isolated, and received no television or radio signals. Recording was often delayed by Donaghy's holidays and travelling. The two recorded five of the songs on Ghosts without Donaghy being signed to a record deal. She eventually signed with Parlophone, who then financed its completion.
Donaghy and Sanger's working relationship was sometimes fraught. Tension initially developed as a result of their differing backgrounds, with Donaghy noting she was raised in a working class household while Sanger came from a wealthy one. However, she said his attitude made her want to prove herself even more. At one point during recording, Sanger said he hated all the work Donaghy had previously recorded, but she later found out this was a ploy to inspire her to "try something different with my voice. He wanted it to be perfect so we bloody laboured over [Ghosts]." Their working relationship was also impacted by Sanger's issues with mental health and addiction. His mother died prior to production, and he developed an addiction to heroin. He entered rehab twice during recording. She said there was no consistency in the way the album was recorded, saying work sessions took place in "frustrating" patterns.
Sanger has been sober since the completion of Ghosts, with Donaghy saying he has "completely changed his life now". She praised him for inspiring her to become a better musician. In spite of his addiction, Sanger used recording sessions to teach Donaghy how to play keyboard instruments and synthesizers such as the Nord Lead 3, Moog, Rhodes and Electribe. She said Sanger wanted to "teach me everything as we went along". She confirmed that despite the difficulties in recording Ghosts, she would work with Sanger again if she were to create another solo album. She said: "I love [Ghosts] so much and I think, at the end of the record, James and I were just going off in a slightly different, more intense direction. I think we'll go more that way for the next record."
Composition and style Musically, Ghosts was described by authors and journalists as an alternative pop, and pop album, with elements of dance, trip hop, and blues. Donaghy described it as "essentially a pop record, but a challenging one." She elaborated that Ghosts is "quite ethereal, very much looking back to old sixties records and there's some harpsichord on the record too. There's also a medieval side, and nods to stuff like Brian Eno and early Annie Lennox." Other influences include Kate Bush and Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins. She described Fraser as one of her favourite vocalists, and one of her biggest inspirations when recording vocals for the album.
Donaghy wanted Ghosts to be an emotive record. She sought to create an album that was "catchy and not too hard for people to get into", but also "interesting and challenging for myself as an artist." She desired to go further left-field and use instrumentation that was more abstract than her contemporaries. She wanted to balance the commercial interests of Parlophone and her own artistic expression by creating radio-friendly singles as well as songs that could never be singles. She described the latter as the "actual essence" of the album, saying the title track would never be played on radio. She derided people in the music industry who claim "you can't make left-field pop music and be commercial", describing that attitude as "bullshit. They always say that when there's nothing else out there like it. I remember what was on the radio when my career began and God, it's so diverse now in comparison. And it feels good to be a part of it."
The first half of the album is lighter than the second half, with Donaghy saying the record becomes more intense as it progresses. Digital Spy said Ghosts was imbued with the tension Donaghy and Sanger had when they were recording; that as the album progresses, Sanger's production becomes "ever more layered and portentous, while Donaghy's vocals become bigger, bolder and more audacious. The results are frequently inspired." Lyrically, Ghosts contains themes of lost love, independence and survival. Stylus Magazine said some of the lyrical content could be interpreted as coping with depression, specifically in the songs "Make It Right" and "Coming Up for Air".
Songs The lyric of album opener "Don't Give It Up" references Sanger's time in rehab overcoming his addiction to heroin. Yahoo! Music noted similarities between the song and Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush's 1986 single "Don't Give Up", saying the two songs share similarities not just with their titles, but with their shared message of resilience and persevering against the odds. MusicOMH described it as a mix of Kate Bush and Björk, saying the initially minimal electronica song gradually expands to an "angelic" chorus. Stylus Magazine said "Don't Give It Up" and "So You Say" compliment one another, describing both songs as symphonic pop. Numerous reviews said "So You Say" contains a "colossal chorus". The lyric references Donaghy's first love, and is her only song examining a romantic relationship. So as to not write a "revengeful song", she changed the subject's name to Adam, a reference to the biblical first man.
The Scotsman praised Donaghy's vocal on "There's a Place", but Stylus Magazine negatively compared the track to a ballad created by her former band the Sugababes. Although they complimented the string arrangement, they said the song was unable to "escape the twinkling syrup." MusicOMH called the song "tuneless", saying it "meanders around an acoustic shuffle before being bludgeoned with strings to add a bit of weight, but comes over as a bit wet." Donaghy said "Sometimes" helped break up the intensity found on the rest of Ghosts by being one of its most pop-sounding songs. She wrote around fifty lines worth of lyrics for the track, but did not want to overcomplicate the song so only included around six lines. MusicOMH complimented its production and Oriental chorus, which they said turned it into a "naggingly addictive tune", as opposed to one of Kylie Minogue's midtempo disco-pop tracks. Yahoo! Music said it was reminiscent of the 1960s work of Burt Bacharach.
The lyric of "12 Bar Acid Blues" was inspired by a vacation Donaghy took with her friends to Thailand, where she and her friends had their passports seized and they had near-death experiences while taking part in jungle treks. BBC called the song a "cordial, comedic and uber-literal tale" that "all but obliterates any assumptions" a listener may have about Donaghy and the album. Their writer said that although the track was out of place with the tone of the rest of the record, it showed "a side to Donaghy and a buoyant sound that both deserve to be investigated further." The song is built around an acoustic guitar, beats and electronic instrumentation, and was compared by MusicOMH to the work of Nelly Furtado and Natalie Imbruglia. The Times called the song "intriguing", noting that "While it's not what Robert Johnson might think of as the blues, it is a song about tribulation, set to a strummed guitar. It's deftly done, and it works well."
"Make It Right" does not include an immediate chorus, so Donaghy said she had to be convinced by her manager and A&R representative to include it on the album. She considers the song a sibling to "So You Say", saying that on "So You Say" she is critical of her ex-boyfriend, but on "Make It Right" she instead sympathises with him and is critical of herself. "Coming Up for Air" is one of the last tracks recorded for Ghosts. She said the lyric may subconsciously refer to her "wanting to get the hell out of the studio". Digital Spy said the song contains a "skittish rhythm" reminiscent of Madonna's Ray of Light, while the BBC described it as "a spectacle of sharpness within a honeyed setting".
"Goldfish" was written by Donaghy and Sanger after a discussion the pair had where Donaghy said she felt uninspired. Sanger responded: "Why don't you write about goldfish or something?". It is Donaghy's favourite song on the album, and contains its most personal lyric, dealing with themes of failure, insecurity, and isolation. Donaghy originally intended for a choir to perform the extensive background vocals, but said this became unfeasible, as a choir would not be able to replicate her vocals due to the melody changes. Her vocal range on the track spans almost six octaves. Digital Spy called it the best song on the album, describing it as an "epic tale of mental anguish whose harmony-drenched final minutes manage to evoke all the sweeping grandeur of 'Unchained Melody'." The BBC described the song as a "trippy hymn with a captivating refrain", and said both "Coming Up for Air" and "Goldfish" were "testament to an expansive talent and a fascinating album."