A few years back I went to see Lindi Ortega play live in Glasgow, hoping to write a review of the show. I loved all her previous albums, especially the last one Liberty, and was looking forward to seeing her talent on stage.
Unfortunately a few songs into the show I realised something was off. At first it seemed like an issue with the sound mix, Lindi’s vocals being too high or perhaps she couldn’t hear herself sing. When she played acoustic or quieter songs her voice was perfect, beautiful. At other times, she sounded strained, a little out of time and tune. I felt unable to write any kind of review of the show, considering how much she was struggling.
The issue, it turned out, wasn’t confined to that one evening. Later she admitted to having issues with her in-ear monitors, which caused her to overcompensate and damage her voice. Soon she was terrified to play live and quit music altogether for four years.
But then after dealing with some difficult personal circumstances, she began writing songs again. With so much new music to share, she worked with vocal coaches to regain her confidence performing live.
The result of this work is ‘From the Ether’, an album of haunting, unusual songs on a ghostly theme. Somewhat surprisingly considering her issues, there’s a stripped back, sparse sound to the record. Her vocals are given time to breathe, to work their quiet magic again without the crushing sound of a full band.
Opener ‘The Epitaph’ sets a tone for the album, sounding like a field recording, pared back, sung in a graveyard, a joyful farewell to the dead, sending them off to the other side.
Despite what she’s been through, many of these songs have a cheerfully, creepy vibe. For example ‘The Spiritual Adviser’ is actually pretty fun and sweet, a spooky little ditty asking for help from the dead. There’s something of the wacky, Addams Family campy horror to many of the songs, the best example being ‘The Fear’ where her internal demons are turned into almost a cartoonish villain.
It’s Halloween this week, after all so songs like ‘The Ancestors’ with its ‘oooooh’ refrain are an eerily perfect spooky soundtrack.
She experiments with beats on ‘The Ghost of You’, letting her voice work in a different range with intriguing effect. Being forced by circumstance to adapt her style and tone has actually led to some interesting results, with this one being strangely hypnotic and quietly powerful.
The other ‘Ghost’ song is a tragic piano ballad about feeling dead within a relationship, invisible, ghost-like. The lyrics offer a twist towards the end where she realises that ghosts have power: ‘I will be the one who ends up haunting you the most.’
She finishes with ‘The Spirit’, casting out a gentle ghost from her life, hoping they can finally rest in peace. The exorcism of her past is complete.
This is an odd album in some ways, but considering what she’s been through these spooky little songs sound surprisingly fun and fresh.
Welcome back, from the ashes, to a true original. The dead can still dance, and thankfully, sing.
LISTEN: https://lindiortega.com/music
Highway Queens 
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