LA-based band Love Ghost describe their sound as “Modern Phantom.” Led by vocalist and songwriter Finnegan Bell, they blend emo, grunge, goth, and hip-hop, and their dark, cinematic aesthetic is matched by a sound that is as atmospheric as it is emotionally charged.
The band have performed across the world, been featured in Rolling Stone magazine (multiple times!), and collaborated with Grammy-nominated artists and producers. They were even named “Best Rock Band” at the 2026 Monster Awards in Mexico City.
Despite this mainstream success, Love Ghost say their music is for outsiders – an evolving world of darkness, vulnerability, rebellion, and connection for anyone who has ever felt like they didn’t belong.
Bell says that the band’s new album, thirteen, is the most vulnerable record he’s ever made. Thirteen was the age at which he was expelled from school, and the age when he started to feel like he didn’t belong. The album has thirteen tracks and is being released on Friday the 13th of November. So, should we fear thirteen? Let’s find out!
“Church For a Vampire” – Gregorian chants join ragged guitars in an almost ritualistic cauldron of sound. When things boil over, it becomes a chugging, pounding epic that has real light and shade. Finnegan’s vocal melts into the track perfectly – full of expression and tortured growls, with deliciously dark, gothic lyrics. What a start!
No salvation
The night shows no mercy
I kneel
as the choir turns away from me
“Pasadena” – A cinematic introduction with a mixture of electronic and acoustic elements keeps things intriguing in this tale of isolation and loneliness. It’s impossible to predict where things are going to go. I loved the piano break at the bridge, highlighting that hip-hop-flavored sample. It’s a simple, hauntingly atmospheric motif.
I’ve been carrying these same old scars
Like constellations in the dark
If tomorrow never finds me
I hope I made a mark
“Into The Woods” – This vivid portrait of guilt, regret, and self-sabotage is built up slowly – each new sound adds another brushstroke. The guitar sounds fantastic, panned wider than the horizon. The vocal has such a presence that it leaps from the speakers. The little shuffling beat keeps the electronic side represented, but of course there are real live drums to enjoy too – eventually.
“Turpentine This House” – The increasing pain in this vocal really bleeds through the bars of this song. A simple track on the face of it. Rest assured, it still has tonnes of inventiveness that sprinkles atmosphere like magic dust. This really tells a story (quite literally, at the end) and has a cool theatrical quality.
I still write you name
In the fog on the window pane
I watch it disappear again
Just like you always did
“Can’t Run Forever” – I loved the sultry, rolling groove. The distant guitar shredding feels satisfyingly retro, and that warm, bubbly bass fills the song with a rounded depth. I swear there are two or three songs’ worth of hooks in this track, yet its effortless musicality is at odds with the suffocating weight of the lyrics, which delve into self-destruction and mental exhaustion.
“Am I Evil” – If that disturbing intro is anything to go by, I would say yes! Luckily, we are treated to another smorgasbord of a song with a disturbingly villainous character at its heart. Elements come and go, but this is essentially a vocal and an acoustic guitar – and a whole lot of tension.
If you think that I’m the worst you’ll meet
Then you haven’t seen the worst of me
You wanted someone who would never leave
So I’ll make sure that you never can
“Something In The Water” – Close and intimate, a breathless vocal combines with a literal liquid backdrop as intensity pours forth. In this tale of the trauma of the past, we eventually sink under its weight before re-emerging, blinking into the light. This is another masterclass of musical storytelling.
“Snake Boy” – As the shortest track on the album, I guess you could argue that it’s more like an interlude than a “full” track. It has a steamy sound with cool rhythmic ideas and unashamedly erotic lyrics, and the increasingly distorted vocal is an intense, slightly hypnotic presence.
“Blood & Roses” – One of the more conventional tracks on thirteen, this has a lighter, almost pop-rock feel to it. Don’t get too comfortable, though – the lyrics soon take a dark turn. There’s a depth to the sound too – layers come and go, and at times it feels as though we’re diving into the deep.
Say I’m the only one
Your love’s a loaded gun
We love to make it worse
Pull me closer til it hurts
“Dog Teeth and Rosaries” – Lo-fi and raw, this one lets you hear the tape running and feel the beaten-up room it was recorded in. This feels honest and personal.
“Pointless” – Finnegan’s vocal cuts through like a ray of sun through the storm clouds. When the drums arrive, they have a thunderous crunch and are almost melodic. Intricate guitars weave through the song like snakes through the grass in this journey of existential reflection.
“I Left My Home” – Just when I thought I’d heard it all, Love Ghost throw in a full-blown army call-and-response chant! The song takes on the persona of a recruit, and I liked the energetic bounce and the way it seems to keep raising the stakes, up and up into a towering emotional crescendo.
I came back home
But I’m still gone
Hear the war call
When the night comes on and on
somewhere there
“Filthy Hands” – The album closes with a calming meditation of a song. In the version I heard, there were imperfections in the recording that gave it an impromptu, spontaneous quality. Muted piano sounds add an almost underwater accompaniment to a crisp, measured vocal delivery. Lyrically, the song conveys a real feeling of empathy – and that hook will get right under your skin.
I hear the chains dragging when you walk
Hear dead memories when you talk
Heaven never built a place for fools
So we make our home in the brutal truth
Love Ghost have a knack for sounding raw yet polished, intimate yet cinematic. It’s truly a unique blend, which means it’s impossible to predict what will happen next. Each song is like a chapter from a gothic novel, but the music bursts with life and vitality.
Equal parts visceral rock band and atmospheric soundscapers, Love Ghost deliver confessional songwriting and widescreen storytelling.
The number thirteen certainly carries a lot of baggage for Love Ghost, but judging by this collection of songs, it looks as though it’s going to be their lucky number after all.
Written by Grubby
