A native of Pompano Beach, Florida, Tyler Costolo has been sharing his music with the world since 2017. After releasing under his own name, and exploring heavier tones under the Two Meters moniker, Tyler formed Ghost Fan Club in 2020 as an outlet for the softer side of his songwriting. Initially finding minor TikTok fame with his single, Speak To Me, and releasing his debut EP, Goodbye World, Hello Ghosts, Tyler has been quietly working away on his next move ever since. The result is the upcoming Ghost Fan Club EP, the first work to feature new drummer Tom Morris, which is set for release tomorrow via Knifepunch Records, and which the band are premiering here today.

It wasn’t just the band lineup that was changing at the time of EP’s gestation, as Tyler explains, “I wrote these songs during a point of major turmoil in my life. I was mostly drifting along, trying to make peace with so much of my existence being out of my control and time slipping by while I was trying to catch up“. Much of the EP has been with Tyler for a number of years, but he didn’t necessarily have the time or head-space to act upon them, “I felt desperate to get the tracks finished but was bouncing around unable to find any footing, which I think you can feel in the songs themselves“.

Certainly listening to the songs on Ghost Fan Club, there’s a certain listlessness, to his melding of Slowcore and Bedroom Pop. These are songs writ large with the emotions of their creator, in particular, there’s a sense of instability, a sonic exploration of time and opportunity passing you by. This is particularly true of the closing track, and recent single, Now And Then, a reflection on feeling like you should be making the most of the here and now, yet feeling like you’re always faking it, and feeling nostalgic for a past that you weren’t even that keen on in the first place, “I’m happy now and then, but at least I pretend”. It’s a theme also visited on the charming simplicity of Please, recalling Casiotone For The Painfully Alone with its ticking drum machine and meandering keys, it finds Tyler paralysed, unable to connect but terrified of the result of failing to do so, “I hate the feeling, of my heart beating, because it’s just life passing me by”.

Recent single Shoulders is perhaps on outward appearance the record’s lowest ebb, yet somehow in the aching depression and insomnia there’s also a sense of clarity, as Tyler puts it, “trying to make peace with my own inner sadness”. Elsewhere, the excellent Lovebug takes its title from both a nickname Tyler’s Grandma gave him as a child and a common pest in Florida, Tyler casting himself as the unlucky insect, smeared by a car windscreen wiper, “I’ll disappear with time, no need to worry, nothing more than grime, you don’t have to hurry”. Particularly lovely is Brave, the music fittingly simple, with its gently meandering guitars, and steady drum ticks, as Tyler ponders if there’s happiness in switching off the noise, “tell me everything is going to be alright, so I can sleep through the night, maybe one day I’ll be brave enough to give up and be happy”.

A record forged from its creator’s lowest moments, Ghost Fan Club is not a record that offers much in the way of optimism. Yet, it is undeniably honest, a howl from the darkness pleading for the light, and one that might resonate with anyone looking not for answers, but just for someone to let them know that in their darkest moments, they are never entirely alone.

Ghost Fan Club is out July 5th via Knifepunch Records. For more information on Ghost Fan Club visit https://linktr.ee/ghostfanclub.