Whatever Happened To Mary? - The Ghost Of Helags
Have you ever had an encounter with a stranger that you never saw again? A moment that sticks with you, and you wonder whatever happened to them? The Ghost Of Helags had such an encounter, and it inspired their latest single, ‘Looking For Mary’.
Teresa Woischiski of The Ghost Of Helags.
We wrote about The Ghost Of Helags back in 2021 for the release of their debut album ‘We Came From The Stars’. The Swedish duo, based in Berlin are Teresa Woischiski and John “Alex” Alexander Ericson, who’ve frequently recorded or written new music while travelling.
Since putting out their debut, they’ve continued to do just that, quietly working on their follow-up in between playing gigs in Barcelona and in Berlin for StageIt. They’ve also released remixes under the name Helax and recorded acoustic versions of their singles ‘I’m In The Dark, Honey’ and ‘Pretty In The Dark’. ‘Looking For Mary’ is the first single taken from their forthcoming second album.
‘Some people live in diamonds, some people bathe in light…’
Though upbeat in its rhythm, the melancholic melody delivered by Teresa Woischiski is reminiscent of the subject matter from which it derives. While outside Tresor, a house and electronic nightclub in Berlin, Alex began talking to a stranger who shared details of their drug addiction and other ongoing issues, before disappearing back into the night.
It was this encounter and the questions that arose following that formed the basis of ‘Looking For Mary’. The Ghost Of Helags continued writing the track while travelling, this time to Italy, and then completed the recording at their home studio in Berlin.
‘Looking For Mary’ is driven by its crisp programmed drums, with synths glistening beneath Woischiski’s voice in an almost classic Wall Of Sound approach. For the second verse, Alex Ericson lends his own voice to the blend amid the unrelenting beat, with added hi-hat and guitar-esque crunchy synth. The music mirrors the lyrical affair, fading out as the search continues on…
‘Looking For Mary’ is a stunning slice of yearning dreampop, and an exciting glimpse of the music that’s yet to come from The Ghost Of Helags.
Continue reading for our Q&A with Alex. We ask him about the nightclub encounter and the Italian road-trip, plus his work as Helax and the acoustic material The Ghost Of Helags have recorded together. All this and more below!
1. You're back with your first new single after two years, 'Looking For Mary', which was inspired by an encounter with a stranger in Berlin. What about that moment stayed with you?
It was nothing in particular, it was just a quite eccentric and wild person, so for some reason the encounter stayed with me and I sometimes wonder what happened to this person, if they’re alive and well...
2. This track was written during a road trip in Italy, what kind of adventure were The Ghost Of Helags on this time? What was the best thing you saw there?
It was a trip down Italy’s west coast, beautiful landscape, but also extremely hot, sometimes close to 40. Too hot for Scandinavians :-)
3. Does this Mary have any relation to the Mary on your debut album?
Actually not, that was just a name that popped up again, or maybe they are related? Who knows?
4. I've got to ask about that picture on Instagram from last August where you're recording on a cliffside, what can you tell us about that moment?
Ahh nice, yes that was during this road trip, in an area called Cinque Terre, stunning views from the cliffs over the ocean. Just had to hook up the laptop and record something.
5. I love your acoustic version of 'Pretty In The Dark', can fans expect more acoustic versions of your tracks in the future?
There´s an old upright piano in the studio, so you never know. But at the moment we´re drifting more towards electronics again...
6. A separate project exists alongside The Ghost Of Helags called Helax, can you tell us more about that? How does that work differ from your music here?
With Helax anything goes. I wanted that to be an outlet for all kinds of music really, that doesn´t fit The Ghost Of Helags or other projects. It´s mostly electronica and I´ve got an ambient EP called "Isar" that´s dropping in March/April.
7. What's next for The Ghost Of Helags? What does 2023 look like for you both?
After a break we´ve started to work on new stuff again. Like most people we lost momentum a bit during the pandemic, we had just done some really nice gigs and felt like we were on the right track, and then covid hit. So we kind of lost our balance and direction a bit. But slowly getting back into it with this single dropping now and another one in about a month.
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‘Looking For Mary’ is available to download and stream in all the usual places.
Download and stream the music of The Ghost Of Helags via their Bandcamp page.
Follow The Ghost Of Helags on Facebook @theghostofhelags, on Instagram @theghostofhelagsofficial and on Twitter @GhostofHelags.
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