Holy Ghost! – “Do This”
Going all the way back to October of last year, Holy Ghost! have been steadily teasing their new album Work, their first full-length collection in six years. (In 2016, between albums, the band also released the Crime Cutz EP.) We first heard “Anxious” alongside news that the group was partnering with the iconic disco label West End Records. From there, Holy Ghost! also unveiled “Epton On Broadway (Part I & Part II),” and finally “Escape From Los Angeles” upon the official announcement of Work. And today, they’re back with another one named “Do This.”
If you’ve gone over half a decade between albums, chances are you’re going to return to a changed world and a changed music industry; that’s even truer in this particular decade, and if you’re a band like Holy Ghost!, who once emerged out of a very specific micro-era in Brooklyn’s music scene. Rather than express disorientation or existential angst regarding where their contemporary interpretation of disco might fit in today’s landscape, however, “Do This” finds Holy Ghost! offering something of a renewed mission statement. Recommitting to their purpose regardless of the vicissitudes of music consumption in the digital era. Here’s what Alex Frankel had to say about the inspiration behind the track:
This song is about sticking to our guns, going after what we always have, and believing that music fans still want more than Diplo’s latest cultural co-opt. There’s a data epidemic in the music industry. Everyone is obsessed with likes, stream counts, “the algorithm,” etc … For a band like us, who like to take our time in the studio and perform with a live band and make actual records from scratch, it starts to really bum you out when people around you are more focused on Instagram stats and “reactions” than the music. At certain times it can feel like: What’s the point of doing this anymore? Thank god we have a small group of people we love and trust that we work with and really great fans that keep us motivated.
Given that Holy Ghost! had previously shared Work’s opening and closing songs, we’ve probably already heard some of the album’s main epics. “Do This,” by comparison, is one of those concise, laser-focused Holy Ghost! singles. Its ease and catchiness might belie the frustration that birthed it. But in a sense, Holy Ghost! surveying the music world, feeling off on their own, and responding with a lush jam is a small, characteristic triumph. Check it out below.
Work is out 6/21 via West End Records. Pre-order it here.