- Brisbane resident Angharad Drake has brought all your suppressed emotions to the forefront of your mind with her first full length record Ghost. Soft in your ears but sharp in your heart, the twelve tracks are full of tales of lost love, regrets, doubt and anxiety.

The opening track on the record, Baby, successfully sets the tone for the album. The clarity of Drake's voice speaks louder than her words, and is somehow amplified over the simplicity of the underlying musical arrangement. This theme is repeated in many tracks on the record: Carpet, Heaven Knows and the title track especially. The repetitive melodies, soft guitar tones and harmonies that somehow still sneak up on you out of nowhere cradle you in a false sense of security - coating you in a sonic serenity before breaking your heart. 

Bullet is melancholic and haunting; the soft, fingerpicked guitar melodies intertwine with the eerily angelic vocals, giving what would otherwise be quite a depressing song a frantic energy that feels disturbingly appropriate. The lyrics are evocative and poignant, with phrases like “I’ve got a bullet babe / But I don’t have a gun,” bringing to mind the all too familiar feelings of surrendering to doubt and self-sabotage.

You can definitely hear the comparisons to artists like Feist and Laura Marling in Drake's songs, however she still manages to maintain a defining and individual sound. The ease with which she sings is refreshing - a lot of indie artists try too hard to be the biggest and the best, but Angharad Drake doesn't try to be something she's not. 

Ghost really lives up to its namesake. With melodies that haunt you for days, and lyrics that dredge up the shadows of the past, Drake has created a record that has the core qualities of a timeless classic folk album. This gal is one to watch. 

- Olivia Shoesmith.