Heartbreak and coming-of-age form the basis of ‘ghost’, the debut album from the brutally honest and endearingly relatable Andie.
Australian singer-songwriter Andie has released her long-awaited debut album ‘ghost’.
An eclectic collection that dips into everything from jazz-pop to epic ballads, the nine-track project — produced by Yianni Adams — traces Andie’s experience of heartbreak with razor-sharp wit and brutal honesty, marking the arrival of one of the country’s most promising songwriters.
‘ghost’ opens with the rustic guitar strums of ‘boxes’, an instrumentally sparse yet altogether engrossing tale of denial and its consequences.
At once recalling the soulful broods of Jorja Smith, Andie’s vocals take centre stage here, carried atop upright bass sections and sporadic percussive flairs.
The acoustic warmth continues on the title track, which sees Andie reflect on the fallout of a breakup, lamenting the difficulty that comes when we choose to ‘ghost’ a former partner.
The candidness of her lyrics remains a throughline throughout the entire tracklist, but Andie is at her rawest on ‘ghost’, with her emotions brought to life by pulsating drums and clashing cymbals.
Next, on the improvisational, seven-minute opus ‘another mourning’, Andie coos alongside jazzy rhythms and stirring vocal harmonies.
Regal strings adorn the later stages of the track as she grieves the loss of a relationship and endures the menial tasks that make up each day.
Andie relinquishes the hurt that underscores these earlier tracks with ‘finally’, a moment of realisation in which she “finally see[s] it for what it is.”
Later, on ‘don’t fuck the dog’, Andie transports us to a dimly-lit speakeasy with lo-fi beats and an all-too relatable tale of the rebound, before ‘looking for love in all the wrong places’ strips back the instrumentals for a vocal-driven ballad.
Atop sparse and twinkly piano keys, Andie acknowledges her own part in searching for the wrong relationships, showcasing perhaps the most soul-baring lyricism of the entire album.
Andie’s efforts culminate on album closer ‘i know now’, a track which reflects on her experiences from a more mature place, looking back fondly on the intensity of her love and choosing to grow from it.
It bookends a whirlwind tale that Andie so carefully constructs on ‘ghost’, with lyrics so intimate you can imagine the scrawled on the pages of her own diary.
It’s rare for a new artist to possess such mastery of their pen, but with her debut album, Andie delivers a powerful manifesto on love, heartbreak and coming-of-age.
Recorded over the course of eight feverish days, ‘ghost’ arrives on the cusp of what’s sure to be a breakout moment for Andie. Listen to Andie’s debut album ‘ghost’ below.
