Heaven, Wait --- Hauntingly Beautiful

MUSIC REVIEW

'Your Heart is Gold', the final track of the album brings us back to the drum and bass production. This track is created with some melo lofi piano and soft percussions. The composition has a heavy gravitas to it.

Margaux Sauve, popularly known by her musical project, "Ghostly Kisses", is a French-Canadian singer-songwriter. Signed to Akira Records, a British record label, she is known for her dream pop songs and liquefying vocals. Her song, "Empty Note" is featured in a series called "The Rain", which one can stream on Netflix. Her songs carry a ghostlike eerie sensation. Even though they feel haunting, they are beautiful in their own way. In 2022, she released her first full-length album titled "Heaven, Wait". The title track saw the artist collaborating with the producers Tim Bran and Louis-Etienne Santais. Here is a brief listen in to the album.

The album commences with the song called 'Heartbeat'. A bright, upbeat composition, yet very subtle in maintaining the underlying heaviness. The song speaks of 'loneliness' existing in someone's absence. The lyrics are very minimal, which wraps up the song as something 'simple yet heavy', a very familiar normal human feeling. The song encompasses a simple human desire, a simple desperation, and the anxiety of craving someone's presence. "Moon and sun. we've just begun to belong", with words as such, it is an eerie yet pretty poem.

The second track is the title-track of the album. This song follows the same kind of progression and delivery as the first track. The song encapsulates a sense of belonging. The artist leaves the term 'Heaven' open to a listener's perception. It seems like the artist refers to her lover or significant order with the term 'Heaven', like a nickname. The artist asks for some time to be clear about certain things in her heart. A very warm composition, literally feels like a bed of warm hugs.

The third track titled, "Don't know why" gives the initial pace of the album a break. It starts with an acoustic guitar rhythm and sides itself apart in terms of the ambience being used. The composition has a tiredness, which underlines the feeling of the song. It speaks of worthless efforts that didn't bear any fruit. The song starts with the lines, "Go now love, don't wanna talk now", which pushes a listener to sit their emotions down. Words like, "There's nothing but hurt where love has died", deliberately hurts a listener.

The next track transcends into another rhythmic pattern that breaks off from the previous three tracks. Titled, "Blackbirds", the artist sings the song on top of some precise percussion and drum beats. There are beautiful strings and guitar rhythms in between. Blackbirds is a song with which one can experience an imaginative solo ride in the desert. The track also incorporates some ethereal violin solos which carries in itself an effective sonic experience. A chilled composition hauntingly harmonised by Ghostly Kisses's signature vocal texture. A lore of calmness.

The fifth track of the album is called, "Different kind of love". The vocals are laid over a piano. Some synth leads complements the vocal composition. The song speaks of how different worlds exist alongside different people. It emphasises how everyone lets you experience different kinds of emotions. It speaks of the walls that we build around us to protect ourselves from any form of hurt. Vocal harmonies glue together the latter part of the song as it progresses. A beautiful production whose laid back vocals does what it is meant to do.

The next song is called 'Clay' and it starts with some whispering choirs and pads. An eerie entry, which leads to a bass progression and finally welcomed by Ghostly Kisses's vocals. Some piano incorporation gives the prelude to an interesting drum and bass progression. The song questions many different possibilities. The song highlights certain emotions, which we experience in our everyday life. The artist incorporates many 'Oh's and similar vocal harmonies to complement the drum and bass rhythms which takeover in the later end of the song.

The seventh track titled, 'Carry Me' is a groovy and fun ensemble. It incorporates a drum pattern with some sweet percussions. The bass progression perfectly complements the drum pattern and sets the foundation for the assigned composition. A simple composition with some harmonies. However, it stands out in the album as a distinct expressive entity. The song has a calming effect on the listener and one can even dance and groove to it. It has a stress relief ability. The synths and offbeat pianos and arpeggios make the song more fun.

The eighth track is called 'Play Dead'. Another track in the album, which starts with acoustic pianos and vocal harmonies. This track is short and like they say, 'A short song comes in for a good time and not a long time'. It hits you where it is meant to hit you. This track works as the interlude of the album. So, yes there are no vocals and it is a short-lived piano ballad. It helps a listener take a short pause from the heavy feelings being delivered by the previous tracks.

The ninth track is titled, 'Green Book'. It carries on with a piano progression followed by the previous interlude. The piano keeps us grounded to the flow of the album. This song sings of longing and endings. With words like, "I wanted to be there (for you)" makes a listener feel a forgone attachment and bonding. The song also has a subtle touch of regret and unfulfilled desires. It cites past moments and statements that someone mentioned in the past. A melancholic ballad. The artist composes a dream, the kind that doesn't let you sleep.

'Your Heart is Gold', the final track of the album brings us back to the drum and bass production. This track is created with some melo lofi piano and soft percussions. The composition has a heavy gravitas to it. However, it takes short breaks in delivering. "Beyond the stars I wanna reach you, see the sky close before you", with lines like this the album comes to a very satisfying end.

Overall, a precise and excellent demonstration of the artist's craft.