Ghostly Kisses is the avant-pop project of Canadian singer Margaux Suavé, an artist that has lived her life around music being born into a family of musicians in Quebec. On first listen a sorrow hangs heavy on the music that makes up her debut album, ‘Heaven, Wait’, but a hope does shine through the cracks in places.
The album opens with ‘Heartbeat’, immediately setting the tone with electronic production sitting tastefully beneath Suavé’s distinctive breathy vocals. Title track “Heaven, Wait” continues in the same vein, with the addition of a piano which gently follows and meanders from the topline.
It’s worth mentioning that there is a touch of class with the production, there isn’t really a dropped note and everything is recorded pristinely and fits beautifully together. This isn’t an album that excites with wild, erratic moments, but one that pulses with consideration and reveals itself in quiet ways.
Elsewhere, ‘Don’t Know Why’ is the album’s clear standout, gently plucked guitar lines and textural synths whirl in an out of orbit, but Suavé’s fragile voice has an inner steel which could be missed if listening passively.
And that’s what ‘Heaven, Wait’ is really: an album for headphones that you can get lost within, where Suavé becomes a close friend whispering her deepest thoughts to you. Songs with a subtle strength that could be missed if you’re not paying attention; ‘Heaven, Wait’ is the sound of someone picking up the pieces and trying to put them back together again.
8/10
Words: Nicolas Graves
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