Highly recommended. The third full-length from Olivia Jean is an album populated by mysterious characters in various states of danger: cursed lovers, doomed souls, women deliriously haunted by unseen forces. Over the course of its 11 spellbinding tracks, the Detroit-born singer / songwriter / multi-instrumentalist amplifies that drama with her wildly melodic take on garage-rock, handling each riff with the power and precision she’s previously shown as a member of the Black Belles (and as an in-demand session / touring musician). A stunning evolution of the retro-surf sound of her past solo work, Raving Ghost ultimately makes for the most magnificently heavy and mesmerizing output yet from an endlessly fascinating artist. Mainly recorded at the famed Valentine Recording Studios in L.A., Raving Ghost finds Olivia Jean back in the producer’s chair and working with musicians like My Morning Jacket keyboardist Bo Koster and drummers Carla Azar (T-Bone Burnett, Nikki Lane) and Patrick Keeler (The Raconteurs, The Afghan Whigs). Engineered by Bill Skibbe (The Kills, Blonde Redhead), the result is a feverish collision of goth-punk and power-pop and classic garage, charged with an energy so intense that the speakers to several of Valentine’s vintage amps ended up blowing out during the recording sessions.
