Soft Shield is the fourth full length album from Ghost To Falco, of whom Eric Crespo is the sole constant member. While it features appearances from long time collaborator Ryne Warner of Ohioan, as well as Heather Broderick of Efterklang, Nathan Crockett of Horse Feathers and Erik Clampitt of Power of County, it has been a true labour of love for Crespo, taking three and a half years, eight different studios, and endless odd jobs to finally realise his vision.

The album is one that is firmly embedded in the American West; trippy desert guitar and arid pedal steel intertwine with a lushly imagined and intimate style of mystery. Over all of it, the lyrics paint pictures of protagonists whose worlds are unraveling and crumbling around them.

Somehow this is one of those albums that seems to hark back to a different age, when records were obsessed over, analysed, dissected and ultimately treasured, becoming markers for a particular time and stage in people’s lives. Unlike so many releases now, Soft Shield has the capacity to be one of those records, capable of overcoming the temporary and transient listener, and offering new and unexpected rewards with every play.

It will be released in April and can be obtained from Bandcamp here.

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