Locomotive Ghost will be making its first appearance in two years at Tracks Pub on Nov. 2, promoting a special four-album project revolving around the seasons.
The band has released three previous mini-albums revolving around spring, summer and the latest one on autumn on Oct. 19. Locomotive Ghost plans on soon going into the studio to record a fourth mini-album on winter, according to band member Ben Nixon. That should be released in March 2014.
The project represents a departure in sound from a regular, full-length Locomotive Ghost project. Nixon said the band intentionally moved away from its “folk-rock-for-nerds-and-lovers” sound, concentrating on different sounds with each theme. Spring had a country-folk sound, while Summer had a light-sounding pop feel to it and Autumn has an alternative-rock sound.
“We're releasing a seasonally-themed series of records. This is our third in six months that we released,” he said, noting that each seven-inch vinyl record is only seven minutes per side. “We're doing every single thing possible ourselves, all the recording, producing, we're hand-painting all the record jackets and it's coming out only on vinyl with digital downloads. It's kind of a wholistic project,” he said.
“We're trying to embrace our impression of each season. So to us, we wanted the summer one to be more lighthearted and upbeat and there's a lot of ukulele and happy vocals, whereas the autumn one we're going for that darker sound,” Nixon said.
This project, with its theme-based music, lyrics, shortened release and promotion time offers the band a bit more focus that other, full-length non-constrained projects don't, Nixon said.
“I, and a lot of other artists, find that the more constraints you put on, the freer the art becomes, because any one of us can create anything and we're also aware of that. It can be crippling to know how many options you have and so as soon as you reduce that and have to do a specific thing you can really take that focus and make it your own, and express it your own way,” he said.
The Calgary-based band has been together for nearly four years. Locomotive Ghost has released two conventional albums in the past.
