Raymond Richards
A Coaxed Ghost

electronic experimental / lush / groove / lounge / avant-garde / ambient

Raymond has been invaluable in shaping the Lung Records evolving sound. In 2020, he asked me to work on a new project with him, something he wanted me to co-produce. He had just finished his incredible pedal steel ambient album, The Lost Art of Wandering, for ESP Institute and was looking for a different direction to try. I wanted to make something combining Air with Angelo Badalamenti, Clara Rockmore, Kool Kieth, and Negativland. Raymond wanted to blend Harold Budd with Isaac Asimov’s The Foundation novels. The result is A Coaxed Ghost.

We crafted the album through 2020. Raymond brought in amazing collaborators: Dean Wareham and Britta Philips from Galaxie 500 and Luna for the exquisite House of Girls and (meta Luna tribute) The Rhythm King Rides Again. Haley Johnsen for the hopeful Still Breathing, Brette and Evan Way with the haunting Forgotten Earth. Megan Diana for the ethereal Absent Nebulas. As much as his last album features Raymond’s brilliant pedal steel, A Coaxed Ghost highlights his dreamy and driving bass. I always thought of it as a bass record and told him so. It’s subtle, but the bass is the common thread. It is the foundation for the rich analog synths, swirling arpeggios, masterful guitar, deep grooves, beautiful vocals, and yes, pedal steel. A Coaxed Ghost is an instrumental album with vocals; perfectly balanced.

RIYL: Harold Budd, Angelo Badalamenti, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Dan The Automator, Luna, Isaac Asimov, Galaxie 500.

Featuring: Dean Wareham, Britta Philips, Haley Johnsen, Brette Marie Way, Evan Way, Steve Swatkins, Megan Diana, Micah Hummel, Brud Giles, Jean-Pierre Garau, Kaitlin Wolfberg