RED GOLD is a new album from Cold Ghost, also known as Fletcher Babb, a multi-faceted artist who delves into the realms of songwriting, sound design, and production. The album emerges from an eight-month artist residency at HOTA, Home of the Arts, focusing on the Nerang River and the waterways of the Gold Coast, and the stories and observations, real and imagined, that come from them.
Staying true to the location, the song incorporates field recordings from the region, including sounds of local wildlife, urban noise, and aquatic life, which combined with Cold Ghost’s alt-folk songwriting style, seeks to produce “a catalogue of songs which reflect the history, stories and flow of the city’s largest river”
Commenting on the album release, Fletcher Babb shared the following statements:
Throughout the residency, I explored the spaces and places around the creeks, rivers and canals collecting audio recordings and visual footage as well as written observations. There were trips to waterfalls and the coastline as well the many canals which are their own urban thoroughfare of this city. Water is at the heart of the Gold Coast and the tension between the natural flow and the built environment is ever present – my songs celebrate and challenge this city, that’s renowned as a tourism mecca but is also a place of natural beauty that many call home.
RED GOLD is my chance to be an explorer, inhabiting known places and discovering new ones, feeling the history of this river and bringing it to life through lyrics, music and sound. I created my own songwriting process, soaking up these waterways and painting the tracks with sonic textures that connect the listener, not only to this place, but anywhere a river flows.
In making the announcement of the album’s launch, it was also shared that Fletcher “relished the challenge of wearing multiple hats to complete this project”, and was directly involved in all recording, mixing and mastering. The album was also a family affair with his daughter, Jonquil, co-writing a song (Playful Creatures in the Shallows of the Sand), and his wife and two children providing backing vocals. RED GOLD also features experimental banjo player, Andrew Tuttle who co-wrote the improvised track “Twin Creeks” with Fletch and a butcher bird.
Cold Ghost will be hosting two launch events of his album RED GOLD on two subsequent Sunday night’s in April. Information and booking information on each can be found below:
Gold Coast Launch
Panorama Room, HOTA, Home of the Arts
Sunday, 14 April, from 3:45 pm
Tickets: Available at HOTA website
Gold Coast Event Schedule
3.45pm: Doors
4.15pm: Andrew Tuttle
5.00pm: Lann Levinge – Welcome to Country and song
5.15pm: Cold Ghost – Red Gold set
6.15pm: Red Gold vinyl albums available for purchase
Brisbane Launch
It’s Still a Secret (ISAS), 48 Montague Road, South Brisbane
Sunday, 21 April at 5:30 pm
Purchase via Humanitix
