Lankum have shared a haunting, creepy cowl of The Specials’ 1981 traditional ‘Ghost City’ – test it out beneath.
The observe might be launched as a standalone 12” single through Tough Commerce Data on January 30, with an elaborate etching on the B-side. You possibly can pre-order your single right here.
The Dublin experimental people band initially coated the tune as a contribution to Oona Doherty’s dance present ‘Specky Clark’ at London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre earlier this yr, and so they have now unveiled a video for the eight-minute observe, shot in County Wicklow and directed by Leonn Ward.
The only stays true to Lankum’s signature ‘people drone’ fashion initially, with a crawling, insidious tempo and discordant strings lending additional menace to the tune’s legendary anti-Thatcherite lyrics, earlier than it erupts right into a cacophonous, digital climax. Watch the video right here:
Lankum have stated: “’Ghost City’ got here to us by means of some curious circumstances. Oona Doherty, who we had been aware of by means of her phenomenal dance work on the video for Gilla Band’s ‘Shoulderblades’, contacted us and advised us a few new present she was placing collectively. It was about her great-great-grandfather being despatched to Belfast as a toddler to reside together with his aunts and work in an abattoir. She needed a brand new piece of music for the present, for a celebration scene set on Halloween evening, and advised us she needed it to start out out indistinguishable and woozy, earlier than growing into the very recognisable observe by The Specials.”
“At first we had been barely reticent, since a canopy of a ska tune wasn’t one thing we’d normally ever contemplate, however after a little bit of deliberation we determined we’d give it a shot, and the outcome took us on an extremely fulfilling journey that had us gleefully taking part in with synthesisers and drum machines in Hellfire Studios, making an attempt to give you the scaldiest 90s sounding techno for the outro part of the observe.”
“We’re very excited with the tip product and delighted that Oona approached us and challenged us to step out of our consolation zone. It’s an honour to be releasing a model of this iconic tune, and it feels eerily related to be referencing but once more themes of city decay, financial hardship and dealing class frustration. Get pleasure from responsibly.”
Doherty added: “I used to be listening to Lankum and it impressed me to write down this dance theatre play referred to as ‘Specky Clark’ utilizing a number of their music. However for one scene which occurs on Halloween evening Samhain, I requested the band may they make me a canopy of ‘Ghost City’ by The Specials. And so they bloody did. ‘All of the golf equipment have been closed down’. I feel this line nonetheless hits onerous all these years later and in a dub accent speaks to housing crises, the poverty, the privatization of Eire. Additionally they managed to make the observe rip by means of this bodily airplane of existence and dance within the different world…. solely Lankum can do this.”
Lankum launched their fourth studio album ‘False Lankum’ in 2023, choosing up Mercury Prize and Ivor Novello nominations. Guitarist Daragh Lynch advised NME final yr that the album’s success had been “very surprising”, including: “We spent the final 4 albums simply actually dedicating ourselves to what we wish to do. We thought the final album was one of many weirdest and most inaccessible that we’ve accomplished up to now, however for some purpose it’s the one that everybody picked up on. Possibly we simply must get weirder and weirder!”
