Following the release of her highly-praised recent single “Dark Matter” released earlier this Summer, Irish artist Sister Ghost is now continuing the support for her long-awaited debut album ‘Beyond The Water’ with her anthemic new offering “I Bite Back”.
Fully embracing the bright and euphoric 90s pop-rock aesthetic she has grown into over the years, “I Bite Back” marks one of her more lively efforts to date. Mixing a heady blend of soaring guitar hooks and her own mesmerising vocals throughout, she continues to shine as one of the more enthralling names doing the rounds right now.
Speaking about the new release, she said, “This song is about battling depression and anxiety (‘the Black Dog took hold of me’) in a world that wants us to give in and give up. It’s about putting in the self-work and understanding the value of your own emotional intelligence, as well as the realisation that people who have low emotional intelligence aren’t worth losing any sleep over. Pick yourself up with kindness and grace and always keep moving forward.
“Musically it’s mostly highlighting my love of the late 90s/ early 00s pop punk and rock diet I fed upon as a kid; Foo Fighters, Green Day, Avril Lavigne, Jimmy Eat World, Sum 41, Blink 182 etc. I also obviously adore playing guitar solos so this single from the album is a fun example of that. I Bite Back is served to you in an energy-boosting pop-punk casing from my spectral art-rock and gothic pop heart.”
Sister Ghost has also announced her plans for a special launch show at the world-famous Derry Hallowe’en Festival that very night to celebrate her debut LP’s release. At Derry’s Nerve Centre on October 31st, Sister Ghost will take to the stage as part of a one-off headline performance, bringing her newest material to eager fans live for the first time.
Listen to ‘I Bite Back’ – BELOW:
Recorded in Los Angeles in the summer of 2022 with the producer Brad Wood (known for his work on Liz Phair’s ‘Exile on Guyville and Veruca Salt’s ‘American Thighs’), ‘Beyond The Water’ is the culmination of years of toil and grit across the underground scene in recent years. The record also features Jeff Friedl on drums, who has also played with A Perfect Circle and is currently the drummer with DEVO. Highlighted by its stellar new offering “Dark Matter”, her latest material offers a new era within her sound, focusing on her progressive songwriting and empowering lyricism.
‘Beyond The Water’ is an amalgam of sorts, a portrait of Sister Ghost’s 20s as a queer woman from a tiny village in rural Ireland, and her experiences both near and far beyond the waters of home.
Derry based artist Shannon Delores O’Neill is Sister Ghost. With a background playing in bands from the age of 12, O’Neill saw Sister Ghost as an opportunity to do things her way for the first time. She began writing and demoing in her attic – singing and playing everything herself on an 8-track recorder.
Playing noisy, spectral art-rock with a pop & literary heart, Sister Ghost marshals a diverse set of influences in a singular way – from the ‘Seattle sound’ to the likes of Sonic Youth, Veruca Salt, Patti Smith and Kate Bush. Sister Ghost built a reputation as one of Northern Ireland’s most rousing new rock bands, winning Best Live Act at the NI Music Prize in 2019. O’Neill has also been recognised for mentoring and encouraging other female and gender expansive musicians to perform in the Northern Irish scene, having set up the Girls Rock! NI chapter in 2016.
Her lyrics are a mixture of highs and lows, of the lessons life shoves in our face and what we do with that. This album should take you on a little tour, with love, heartbreak, death, but mostly growth and resilience. Tinged with wistfulness and nostalgia at points but also looking forward. Of frustration and pain, to wonder, and the wistful curiosity that travels and goes through young adulthood. Whilst also fictional elements or those from art and film that I may have identified with, for example she wrote Dark Matter after being moved by watching the french film Portrait of a Lady on Fire as it echoes some of her own queer experiences.
Whilst one of the songs (album closer ‘Scent’) was written 10 years ago, most were written in the dusty attic of her childhood home in rural Ireland during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown of spring 2020. She would spend those strange lockdown days writing and recording demos after long walks or cycling around the local area, soaking up inspiration drawn from the nature around her, memories and wanderlust for the travel that couldn’t be at that time, reading books, watching films and sifting through 10 years worth of notebooks and journals.
DEBUT ALBUM ‘BEYOND THE WATER’, OUT OCTOBER 31ST
ALBUM LAUNCH SHOW @ DERRY’S NERVE CENTRE ON HALLOWE’EN NIGHT
TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE
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