'Ghost Notes' is a collation of stories reflecting upon the rise, break-up, and reunion of the iconic band, Veruca Salt.
Songs that were produced before the demise of the original band in the 1990s, have been retrieved and re-interpreted, not only assisting the band’s healing process, but also allowing a new chapter of the band to begin. Reconciliation between the band members has lead to the creation of possibly their best album yet, a story of friendship, loss, remorse, betrayal, restoration, and redemption.
Louise Post (guitar/ vocals), Nina Gordon (guitar/ vocals), Steve Lack (bass) and Jim Shapiro (drums) are hitting the ground running ahead of the 10 July release of 'Ghost Notes'.
Louise reassures they are currently working non-stop around the clock, with so many things to prepare for and as well as much needed family time. “It's my first time releasing a record as a mom, I’m busier than I've ever been. Right now, we're doing press for the album, all kinds of things surrounding the release and planning our tour.”
Although it’s a demanding job, Louise insists it’s an incredibly wonderful job and in terms of the new album, she couldn’t be anymore proud of it. Each song represents a different page torn out of a notebook from the past and the present, which is what inspired the title. “Some of the songs are from our past … but a lot of them are studying if not scrutinising our past and trying to make sense of it … looking back into how we felt when we were apart.”
The diverse range of moods and themes among the tracks will appeal to a wider audience and connect with people on different levels. “We hope that [the album] speaks universal themes and everyone can find meaning in it … for us it really tells a story of our rise, the fall out and then really most importantly, the reunion … the jubilation since we've been back together.
“The album artwork is different pieces of notebook paper torn out of Nina's notebook … I draw hearts and stars and she draws little girl faces.”
While Louise and Nina were rummaging through old boxes of stuff they came across the old notebooks where Nina had 40, 50 pages of these particular face sketches. “We were all laughing about how crazy that was – bona fide crazy. The joke was she was trying to perfect my face while we were apart – we did an unhealthy amount of obsessing over one another after we'd broken up ... it was like a divorce of the creative kind.”
The band decided to collate the sketches together and it transformed into an extremely eye-catching and abstract album artwork. Louise has the strongest connection to the track 'Empty Bottle' because it was born out of a collaboration between herself and fellow band mate, Nina. “We were sitting in our basement with a guitar on each of our laps … we played a different chord at the exact same time, that complemented the other so beautifully.
“We just stopped playing and looked at each other for a second like 'what's happening right now? This is so pretty!'”
In the case of 'Empty Bottle', it came out so organically – a representation of how they felt at the time being on the road and away from their families. It also represents a celebration of their time together and obviously some of the regrets. “We didn't keep it together, we had a fight and we broke up ... so that’s an element in the song as well.”
Louise also feels incredibly passionate about the new song 'Prince Of Whales' and has ideas ready to roll with a clear vision in her mind of how she will portray the story in a music video. “It's about a specific time and a turning point in our band and in my life … that’s what 'Prince Of Whales' was symbolic of.”
Image © FacebookVeruca Salt are about to embark on a national tour of the US, including a performance in their old home, Chicago, as well as their new home, Los Angeles. When asked if an Australian tour will be on the cards in the future, Louise responded: “We have promised that we are coming back to Australia, so we have to hold true to that! We're eager to come back because we had an incredible tour in Australia last year, we can’t wait to see and connect with our fans again.
"It was really so profoundly touching and everyone was so welcoming it felt like a second home to us. We really had the most powerful shows – I’ll never forget our first tour to Australia.”
'Ghost Notes' is out 10 July.
