We are happy to offer a very special and soulful EP by Ghia to start the year, and the best thing about it? It's free! The “Crystal Silence EP” is more than just a teaser for the upcoming full length album “This Is” as it features three exclusive mixes that won’t be on the LP. Furthermore, the extremely limited cassette version of this special release includes an additional unreleased tune!
The EP starts with the title track, “Crystal Silence”, a deep, beautiful and previously unissued street soul ballad representing an ideal specimen of the genre. Next up is an incredible and exclusive mix of the track “Keep Your House In Disorder” which is much funkier than the original version and was recorded ca. 1988, earlier than the final album mix. On both songs you can hear Ghia at their peak when the band teamed up with German singer Lisa Ohm. Ohm was active as a professional musician since the 1970s and a member of groups like the German jazz-rock outfit Aera for example. In the 1980s, she could also be heard as the key background singer on many Georgie Red and George Kochbek productions.
The EP continues with a short instrumental reprise version of “Crystal Silence”, again, an unreleased version exclusive to this EP and different from the “in dub” mix which can be found on the Curaçao Blue album. Jazz funk doesn’t get any smoother than this, does it?
Next up, the digital release on Bandcamp features another gem as a hidden bonus. A demo mix of “You Won’t Sleep On My Pillow”. The final version is known from their collectible single release from 1991. This earlier recording is mixed differently and features a rougher vocal take of Lisa which makes this version even more mysterious and haunting than the original.
Last but not least, we are offering a rare live take of “Keep Your House In Disorder” exclusively on the tape edition. The track was found on one of the lost demo tapes that were discovered last year. Here you can hear alternative lyrics and the brilliant voice of Lisa Ohm without any background choir – we are sure you will agree that this is quite amazing – offering you a feeling of sitting in a bar in South London in the late 80s, enjoying a live performance!
In the production and release of the vast unheard and underrepresented material left behind by Ghia, the curation and research team over here at The Outer Edge hopes that another clear and honorable snapshot of their brilliance is preserved by this EP.
We hope you dig this teaser, we really can’t wait for the album...can you?
released February 2, 2023
Composed by Ghia 1988 - 1991
All tracks previously unissued
Ghia is Lutz Boberg, Lisa Ohm, Frank Simon
Recorded at Ghia Studio, Bielefeld and Cottage Music, Bardüttingsdorf
Project Coordination, Executive Production, Tape Digitalisation and Sound Restoration by John Raincoatman
Mixed at Cottage Music, Bardüttingsdorf by Ghia and Wigbert Pieper
Mastering by DJ Scientist, except A1, mastered by Frederic Stader
Artwork & Layout by Günter Stöppel
Artist pictures by Michael Haddenhorst
Special thanks for the support to Wigbert Pieper.
Distributed by
wordandsound.com
℗ 1988-1991 Ghia | © 2023 The Outer Edge | A Division of EQX-Music | TAC-015 | All Rights Reserved | LC 04415