Hania Rani announces her new album, Ghosts, bringing her songwriting and beautiful vocals to the fore and featuring special guests Patrick Watson, lafur Arnalds and Duncan Bellamy (Portico Quartet).

Ghosts will be released on October 6th via Gondwana Records, followed by Hanias most monumental tour to date, with shows in the EU, US and Canada.

Ghosts is the sound of an ever-evolving artist and, just as the albums title suggests she passes repeatedly and gracefully between musical worlds: as composer, singer, songwriter, and producer. This album builds on Ranis earlier successes Esja and Home with an expanded yet still minimal setup of piano, keyboards, synths (most importantly her Prophet) and features more of her mysterious, bewitching voice. Its spirit is warm, beckoning one into an ambitious double album that unfolds at an exquisite pace, informed by her revelatory, exploratory live performances.

Ghosts is also an album of collaborations as Rani is joined by Patrick Watson, who breathes unearthly life into the ethereal Dancing with Ghosts. Whispering Houseis written and recorded with her friend, lafur Arnalds and casts a peaceful, ineluctable spell; and Portico Quartets Duncan Bellamy contributes vital loops to Dont Break My Heart and Thin Line.

Ranis lyrics are partially inspired by a two-month residency in a small studio in Switzerlands mountains, where Rani was working on the soundtrack On Giacometti for a documentary about the renowned Swiss artist. Where I stayed was once an old sanatorium in an area which used to be very popular, but now there are huge abandoned hotels where the locals say ghosts live. I mean, it’s kind of a local belief system these ghosts even have names! but once you’re deep into nature or some abandoned place, your imagination starts working on a different level.

The edge of life and death, Rani summarises, and what actually happens in between: this was what really interested me. Even singing the word death was quite a shock. Its such a weird word to say out loud, and people are afraid of it, which I found extremely interesting. Most of the songs probably still talk about love and things like that, but Ghosts is more me thinking about having to face some kind of end.

If Ranis debut Esja was about exploiting her principal instrument, and Home saw her take steps towards a fuller expression of her art, Ghosts is where she unites her varied interests on what might even be considered her first real album. Drawing upon a fondness for diverse artists like Enya, The Smile, James Blake and Pink Floyd not to mention her admiration for her guests and evoking Stina Nordenstams delicacy, Keith Jarretts flair, Kate Bushs artistry and Pink Floyds probing inclinations, it combines a lifetimes musical experience in one miraculous, cosmic world. Say hello, then, to something quite unlike anything youve ever heard. Its the sound of HANIA RANI.

For fans of Nils Frahm, Melanie de Basio, Bjrk, Kate Bush, lafur Arnalds and Portico Quartet.

Tracks:

Oltre Terra
Hello
Dont Break My Heart feat. Duncan Bellamy
24.03
Dancing with Ghosts feat. Patrick Watson
A Day in Never
Whispering House feat. Olafur Arnalds
The Boat
Moans
Thin Line feat. Duncan Bellamy
Komeda
Utrata
Nostalgia