The new single “Ghosted” from Human Barbie opens with muted guitars and a soft touch on the drum kit, but do not let that controlled approach fool you. The restrained feel of the melody belies an undeniable hook that will likely stick with you for some time. A ghost-like synth haunts the track in places, but otherwise, the tune mostly sticks to its initial stripped-down aesthetic.
Chris Leopold is the L.A.-based songwriter at the center of Human Barbie, and he describes the project as an “analogue fantasy” that melds AM radio with what he calls “midnight vinyl.” There is certainly a pop appeal that underlies the song, but it manages to refuse the hyperpop tropes and anthemic maximalism that dominate large swathes of mainstream radio and the almighty Algorithm (see Spotify) today. This track is much closer to the more nuanced and textural pop of musicians like American Analog Set and perhaps even Sparklehorse in his quieter moments.
I imagine that it will not come as a shock that the lyrics appear to recount the experience referenced in the title: being “ghosted.” The narrator sings, “Said you could love me/ But suddenly maybe not.” It is a reflection on “Falling into this/ And getting lost,” but this reflection comes in the form of an earworm that will leave the listener more than happy to get lost.
Written by SilenceKid
