Vanished Pleasures by The Ghost

If you’d asked me a few days ago for my preferred method for fighting ingrained homophobia, free jazz wouldn’t have been at the top of my list. However, after hearing Vanished Pleasures by The Ghost, I may now be convinced. Free jazz inherently appeals to our desire for interpersonal connections, as we witness a group of musicians construct something beautiful out of nothing but nonverbal communication. From this launching point, The Ghost steers their meandering, improvised craft towards the discussion of the types of interpersonal relationships that mainstream society finds incredibly vulgar. Namely, Vanished Pleasures celebrates queer, kinky sexual experiences, with the band taking this hour to try and fail to recreate the euphoria of these moments through music. As an end result, we receive an absolutely gorgeous album that hits at the heart of the comfort, thrill, and mania that come along with interpersonal power dynamics. From here, The Ghost puts the icing on the cake by introducing imagery, like album art and song titles, that evoke extremely carnal moments of queer sexuality that leave nothing to euphemism. Vanished Pleasures takes those well-meaning “allies” who accept gay rights while holding queer sexuality at arm’s length and slaps them in the face. Here, even if it’s just for an hour, everyone will realize the unique and potent beauty of queer intimacy.

- Michael