(Fullmax Recordings/Hemifran) 2025.
CD/LP/Digital
Various genres – AUSTRIA
Austrian guitarist and singer Andreas Lechner leads the band/project known as The Ghost And The Machine. It also represents a kind of alter ego for him, and over the course of its existence, he has released five records, including the current album.
He launched the entire project in 2012, and what it presents in terms of expression can largely be considered original and unique. The lyrics, as well as the way the themes are treated, are highly intuitive, with various types of emotions dominating from song to song. Different dimensions of mood also shift throughout the material, which, through its overall approach, creates diverse performance elements.
The style of vocal delivery, which at times sounds as if it were filtered through a “megaphone” or a “vocoder,” can be irritable and energetic, yet at other moments seemingly uninterested and drowsy. The instrumental aspect varies from what could be described as alt/indie folk elements, to garage-oriented expressions, all performed in a fairly free manner, without adherence to any previously established “rules.”
Andreas Lechner does not hide his shifting moods while performing the music he has created, and listeners may encounter constant changes in song dynamics, psychological variations, and different instrumental approaches. There is no doubt that „Sorrows“ is an intriguing release, one that is difficult to fit into any specific mold or form. However, that was ultimately never the author’s intention.
dec 31 2025
THE GHOST AND THE MACHINE – „Sorrows“
(Fullmax Recordings/Hemifran) 2025.
CD/LP/Digital
Various genres – AUSTRIA
Austrian guitarist and singer Andreas Lechner leads the band/project known as The Ghost And The Machine. It also represents a kind of alter ego for him, and over the course of its existence, he has released five records, including the current album.
He launched the entire project in 2012, and what it presents in terms of expression can largely be considered original and unique. The lyrics, as well as the way the themes are treated, are highly intuitive, with various types of emotions dominating from song to song. Different dimensions of mood also shift throughout the material, which, through its overall approach, creates diverse performance elements.
The style of vocal delivery, which at times sounds as if it were filtered through a “megaphone” or a “vocoder,” can be irritable and energetic, yet at other moments seemingly uninterested and drowsy. The instrumental aspect varies from what could be described as alt/indie folk elements, to garage-oriented expressions, all performed in a fairly free manner, without adherence to any previously established “rules.”
Andreas Lechner does not hide his shifting moods while performing the music he has created, and listeners may encounter constant changes in song dynamics, psychological variations, and different instrumental approaches. There is no doubt that „Sorrows“ is an intriguing release, one that is difficult to fit into any specific mold or form. However, that was ultimately never the author’s intention.
the-ghost-and-the-machine.com
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Objavio Branimir Lokner • International reviews • • Tags: Andreas Lechner, Austria, Branimir Lokner, Hemifran, Sorrows, The Ghost And The Machine, Time Machine Music