The quest to find “your people” can be a difficult one, and Albuquerque, NM-based Grey Star Ghost manages to capture the awkwardness and loneliness in that search with their new single “The Party” – available now.
The song’s sound, however, is bright, peppy, and shimmery – full of glorious harmonies, driving guitars, and head-bopping beats – and it fully reflects, well, a party.
“The music is fun, upbeat, and energetic while the lyrics speak to social anxiety, dread, and feeling out of place,” explains frontman Jacob Tucker. “This juxtaposition reflects me at The Party – appearing to be having fun on the outside while just looking for an escape on the inside.”
The inspiration behind the song came when Tucker attended a work event in hopes of getting to know his coworkers and maybe even making a few friends. It didn’t take him long to realize that these were just not his people.
I’m at the party
Talking about routes to work
Discussing all our grocery stores
Touching upon nothing at all
And I can’t stand it
I’m here because I think they’ll care
Here because for some reason
I think they’ll notice if I’m not
“The lyrics of the first verse speak to the topics of conversation that were happening around me and my motivation for being there,” Tucker recalls. “The second verse speaks to the façade I was putting on while just wanting to leave but feeling obligated to stay so that nobody thought there was something wrong with me.”
And then, there’s the chorus we’ve all been able to relate to at some point: Who will save me from this good time? Sometimes, an experience like this can tap into to a greater existential crisis beyond the party at hand. “It speaks to the deeper angst of asking questions like, ‘Who are my people?’ ‘Where is my community?’,” Tucker explains.
“Finding your people is not an easy task and along the way you sometimes have to experience those who are not going to be your people to realize your values, interests, and priorities,” he continues. “We all just want to find our people. Sometimes we do that through music. This song is about a key moment in that process for me.”
Grey Star Ghost is the musical project of singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Jacob Tucker. Tucker originally formed the emotive indie alt rock outfit in Denton, Texas in 2018 and is now based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Grey because very little in life is black and white, Star because stars are infinite, and Ghost because we all have things in our past that were once alive and haunt us today. At times atmospheric and contemplative, at times fierce and with an edge, their music has been described as haunting, having a vulnerability that makes it powerful, absolutely beautiful and completely heartbreaking.
The band’s lineup features Sean Umstead on drums, percussion, and backing vocals; Ken Easton on lead guitar and backing vocals; Angel Cruz on bass; and Jacob Tucker on lead vocals, rhythm guitar, music, and lyrics.
Grey Star Ghost are set to release a series of singles in the Summer of 2024 in advance of their third full-length album, Angels Leaving, to be released in September 2024.
