In 2022, modern ska revivalists Westbound Train returned to the studio to bless fans with a full-length album following a 13-year hiatus from recording. Aptly titled Dedication, the boys — now fathers, teachers, other fully-grown adults — unveiled a more mature side to their initial success in the early naughts.
As a result, the album’s sound was fuller, richer, more refined.
Fast-forward another three years to the reveal of their latest Sing The Ghost Away, a 10-song missive on accepting life — no matter how it’s thrown at you. Produced by lead vocalist and trombone player Obi Fernandez and recorded at The Relic Room in New York City, the album offers muted horns, rocksteady anthems, and several ska twists to move the tracks along — all in the vein of traditional Jamaican reggae.
Warm in timbre, it’s the perfect spin on a Sunday while drinking your morning coffee. Seriously, this album is meant for analog play (and is conveniently being sold as such, see details below). There’s nothing like the hum of a record player underneath classic rocksteady arrangements out the speakers. From the first track, titled “Slippery Slope”, Sing The Ghost Away is a blast from the past delivered in a modern mold: its “doo wops” and reliance on high-hats meet infrequent time signatures and a bunch of lyrical repetition. And right when you sink into its rhythm, it pulls the rug out from under the listener with a quick change in tempo.
Available today on all digital outlets, as well as limited edition blood orange-color vinyl, Sing The Ghost Away is yet another incredible installment of Westbound Train’s legacy, a band that continues to shape the reggae-ska industry to this day after three decades! To get a physical copy (there’s signed ones you can opt for, too!!) or to stream the album today, make sure to visit the links below.
Westbound Train – “L.M.A.”
Track listing:
- Slippery Slope
- Meet Me at the Metro
- L.M.A.
- Miss Reason
- Hold the Line
- A Lonely Heat is an Open Door
- Like a Sunset Over Water
- We All Need Rescue – Relic Room Version
- Keeper From the Start
- Gasoline (Don’t Say Your Goodbyes)
Stream ‘Sing The Ghost Away’ album:
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Disclaimer: All views presented in this album review are those of the reviewer and not necessarily those of Top Shelf Music.
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