New single announcement: Following the announcement of the new album HANDCLAPS & TAMBOURINES from LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS (due October 14), Big Stir Records presents the second single from the new record! “Ghost Singer” debuts October 30, well ahead of the album, at
bigstirrecords.bandcamp.com and streaming everywhere worldwide. It's accompanied by a brand new video from the Akron, Ohio jangle-rock favorites to be debuted during release week, and is sure to be materializing on playlists across the global pop rock scene as anticipation for HANDCLAPS & TAMBOURINES builds.
The new single is as seasonally appropriate as could be as Halloween approaches. It follows last year's double-sided hit “I Can't Stop Thinking About You” b/w “Stumbling Down Memory Lane” as the third advance track from Handclaps & Tambourines to tease the ears captivated by the band's acclaimed 2020 debut LONG OVERDUE. Both the track and the video feature guest appearances from Christina Bulbenko and Rex Broome of THE ARMOIRES, lending some spectral singing to the spiraling twin guitars, melodious vocals and postpunky rhythmic drive conjured up by the full-time Librarians: singer/guitarist Ray Carmen, lead guitarist/vocalist Mike Crooker, bassist Andrew Wilco and drummer Rob Crossley.
Although there's definitely a thread of spookiness running through the tune, the titular phrase isn't of supernatural origin. The Wikipedia definition of a ghost singer is someone who records singing voices for actors and actresses to lip-synch on film, but in the Librarians With Hickeys song, a ghost singer is someone trying to communicate, but unable to be heard or understood. Ray Carmen sings the tale of a couple desperately trying to talk in a noisy crowded bar, while the harmonies of guitarist Mike Crooker, aided and abetted by Broome and Bulbenko, act as the ethereal Greek chorus. All of which is a reminder that in these uncertain times it’s always a good idea to tell someone you love them before it’s too late.
“Ghost Singer” delivers the hooks and layered sonics fans have come to expect from our Librarians, while hinting at the deeper themes examined on Handclaps. With just weeks to go before the album materializes in full, it's becoming ever more apparent that it's the soundtrack to Autumn for guitar pop fans worldwide.
released January 1, 2016