Ghostpoet: Dark Days & Canapés – unsettling sounds of alienation

The lead single from Ghostpoet's fourth album sets out Obaro Ejimiwe's stall better than any press release could. The downbeat Immigrant Boogie attests to the Londoner's assertion that there are "specific stories that needed telling" this time around. Some of those titular dark days are personal (as heard on Trouble + Me), while others reveal the alt-hip-hopper's sense of alienation in the world (Blind as a Bat . . .), but they're all trussed up in an unsettling clutter of sounds thanks to producer Leo Abraham's (Brian Eno, Jon Hopkins) input. From the steely electronic burble of One More Sip to the loose, jazzy, Radiohead-esque Freakshow, Ejimiwe always has an atmospheric palette to lay his tremulous growl atop. It makes for a disconcerting listen that takes multiple listens to really figure out. ghostpoet.co.uk