Ghost Interior. Combo Qazam

Ghost Interior starts with the enthusiasm of a Wet Leg song, only to turn the song into an 80s mood of existential angst better fitting in with the times of today. Existential angst from multiple angles, not the least of a maniac threatening the world with nuclear weapons.

Combo Qazam returns to the blog with a new album. An album filled with music created after the world grounded to a standstill. A time that was more difficult for the one person than for the other. Ab al Tamimi, Stefan and Arno Breuer and Gino Miniutti explored what it was to be a human in lockdown times and reflected on their insights in these new songs.

The answer must not have been easy to achieve and the time not easy by itself. Ghost Interior is an album filled with songs that demand an effort. An effort to listen to them. An effort to comprehend them. An effort to like them. The good news is: the effort pays off.

Songs with complex rhythms turn out to be songs after all. Different and sometimes difficult structures contain little sparks of inspiration that light things up. Often there are details to explore, to follow throughout a song. As many things are happening at the same time, surprises are all around.

Combo Qazam is a combo of four millennials with 80 years of experience by playing in 40 bands. Since I follow the releases of Tiny Room Records, now about six years, I have encountered these men in so many different guises, that I do not doubt the number of 40 at all, taking into account the 14 previous years.

What I cannot help you with, at least for large parts of the album, is to compare Ghost Interior to a lot of other albums. It is rather beyond my frame of reference. A little Japan and David Sylvian, that is as far as it goes and totally inadequate. Combo Qazam plays louder but also plays with the brake on in some of its songs in exactly the same way. This results in a mysterious sheen over its music, enter Japan/Sylvian. In a very laidback way there may be some hints towards Norwegian progrock bands, by lack of a better word for this adventurous music, like Motorpsycho and Soup. At the end of the album there are some references to the softer side of Yes as well. The latter is the "easy" part of the album.

For me an album like Ghost Interior is an adventure. Combo Qazam takes me along some new roads. Highways, byways and dirt tracks. The trip is nice and well worth it, surprises and all.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order Ghost Interiors here:

https://tinyroomrecords.bandcamp.com/