“Words like weathered footprints, of a size since evolved.”
It has been seven long years since All Is in Sync, and There’s Nothing Left to Sing About, the last full length album from Ghost Atlas (not counting their 2019 acoustic re-imagining album). The rock side project of ERRA’s Jesse Cash, its sound pulls from various personal influences of Cash, with bands like Saosin, Circa Survive, The Mars Volta, and Deftones serving as inspirations. Dust of the Human Shape is the project’s third album, presumably written while balancing the success ERRA has experienced following their 2021 self-titled album.
Beginning the single rollout in late 2023 with “Lesser Gods,” Cash picked up where he left off with ease, delivering his signature road-trip worthy sound. The track has no shortage of his intricate guitar work, executed into a post-hardcore sound. Its anthemic chorus sees Cash’s distinctive vocals take a more relaxed tone, beautifully smooth and fitting into the sound perfectly. I’ve always remarked that Cash’s vocals have an uncanny resemblance to Cove Reber’s vocals in Saosin, and this quality works especially well for the style of Ghost Atlas.
Album opener “Void Voyeur” continues in this vein, lush clean guitar tones leading into the verse. The combination of beautiful leads and Cash’s soaring vocals in the chorus takes the track to a pleasant high, whilst still retaining its mellow nature. This mellowness sets the tone for what’s to follow, as follow-up track “Panorama Daydream” gently waltzes its way into your ears. The track takes a more stripped back approach with a lot of space between sections, culminating in a reverb-heavy solo. Frustratingly, the chorus leads off with “drowning in the undertow”, a personal gripe of mine due to the line’s overused nature. I can look past it this time, but it does feel out of place given Cash’s usual lyrical complexity.
This album takes a noticeably calmer approach than previous releases. Though not absent from past tracks, Dust of the Human Shape takes many moments to pull back on the intensity. “Gaps in the Armoire” is led by acoustic guitar strums, backed by delay-pedalled leads creating for an unmistakable vibe. “Seeker (Stretch the Night)” also has a quiet start, progressively building until the track climaxes in an explosion of sound. A lot of Cash’s lyrics are vague yet personal, with numerous strange metaphors illustrating events in his life. This track stands out as lyrically more direct, detailing an experience of feeling adrift. Although I may not always understand them, I have a deep appreciation for the emotional manner Cash writes his songs.
The album is impressively consistent, keeping its sophisticated yet straightforward sound. Blanketed in melancholy, it invokes an intentional wistfulness, even down to the cover art. While the album doesn’t have as many stage-stealing moments as past albums (like the tapping solo on “Cry Wolf”), the album makes up for it in its subtle allure. Cash’s technical skill is in no way sacrificed, utilized to instead create the soundscapes that make themselves known on multiple listens. While there are more energetic moments on the album, they never break the cohesiveness of the album’s sound
The album’s title track switches up the approach with a piano-led intro, the sole accompaniment to Cash’s captivating vocals, effortlessly weaving falsetto into the melodies. The track builds in a cinematic fashion, although in an interesting twist, ends without introducing more elements. It’s an interesting change in direction, and one that adds to this album’s generally subdued approach.
While it may be easy to view Dust of the Human Shape as less exciting than before, there is a lot more to this album under the surface. If anything, it’s a testament to the talent of Cash and his ability to craft these nostalgic soundscapes, offering something very different from his usual offerings in ERRA. His range and capacity to create something intentional regardless of genre is genuinely impressive. It is quite a lengthy album, and it’s admittedly quite easy to get lost in the music, but I’d argue that it’s perfect for that. After all, following such a long absence, its existence is more than welcome.
8.5/10
Dust of the Human Shape releases on the 22nd of January via UNFD, and pre-order links for the album can be found here.