Ghost on TV reflects a panoramic groove of societal tension with ‘Mister Silence’
Boston project of multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Paul DePasquale delivers a quietly loud new album on Friday, February 21
‘A bass-booming trip-hop trip that hypnotizes and mesmerizes.’ – Turn Up The Volume
Now Playing: Listen to lead singles ‘Daily Laws’ + ‘Drained’
Photo Credit: Ghost on TV
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BOSTON, Mass. [February 21, 2025] – It took Paul DePasquale traveling halfway around the world to rediscover his musical vision. The songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer behind the Boston-based alternative project Ghost on TV found himself in Japan several years ago, wandering back alleys, absorbing a more spiritual sense of culture, and embracing a kind of creative balance that had previously eluded him. There, he understood the art of being quietly loud and, as he puts it bluntly, to “be impactful with less.”
From there, the seeds were planted for Ghost on TV’s new album Mister Silence, set for release on Friday, February 21 via Swoom Records. Built off the moody glide of claustrophobic tension of lead singles “Daily Laws” and “Drained,” Mister Silence is a medley of DePasquale’s newfound creativity, emitting a sound that straddles a line between alternative, indie, trip-hop, and electronic music, and colors each shade in vibrant grayscale.
The album’s artwork, a photograph of DePasquale and a friend, backs turned, walking through Tokyo’s back alleys in search of a hidden cocktail bar, with elements of bright new technology jostling with old-school decay, reflects a scene like something out of a dystopian film, drawing us deeper into this world.
“It's good to release art into the world,” says DePasquale, known to New England audiences for his work in celebrated alt-rock band Vary Lumar. “I have been making music and releasing it since 2001. Mister Silence feels like the result of many things re-aligning in my creative mindset and delivering something both raw and polished in more ways than just sonically.”
With its seven bass-and-beat-driven tracks that skip across genre lines with ease, Mister Silence was recorded and mixed by longtime collaborator and co-conspirator Sean McLaughlin of 37’ Productions in Rockland, Massachusetts; and mastered by Jeff Lipton at Peerless Mastering in Boston with assistant mastering engineer Costanza Tinti.
Operating Ghost of TV as a “kinda, sorta” solo project, DePasquale’s inner circle these days is tight, though he anticipates this project will eventually become more of a collaborative affair. He soft-released debut album Appealing and debut EP Melt on Mild with a collaborator in late-2020 during the pandemic, emerging after he found himself without a band – or a familiar role as a songwriter – for the first time in nearly two decades. At that point, it had been roughly two years since he even penned a song, and Ghost on TV’s blank canvas was a welcome respite.
“I felt stuck creatively, fighting with myself between trying to always push the envelope or do what just felt natural,” DePasquale admits. “I had always put such pressure on myself to write songs and styles that were forced to be different. I no longer wanted to do that. I wanted to master the art of simplicity. I dove back into classic artists, musicians, and actors that made art from a simpler time. I found the art that impressed me the most was from artists that were unlikely I would enjoy, or so I thought. I finally felt like ‘I am done with trying to find things, just do what feels good.’”
That is not to suggest Mister Silence is a feel-good album. It positions itself as perhaps the most appropriate record of this young 2025, its sweeping propulsion weaving a scene of claustrophobia and tension, and even its most calming and hypnotic moments have a grim sense of reality attached to them. It’s a look inside DePasquale’s mind, a swirling barrage of vulnerability and confidence wrestling each other with each beat and lyric, all carried by melodic grooves that belie its societal seriousness. The sound is stripped down, but the emotional depth runs deep.
“Some of these songs are about being tired of all the noise,” he says, “and some are about getting old, losing memories, getting older and becoming wiser, standing up for yourself, being bold, and also just knowing your humbled place in the world. I would say my biggest takeaway on this record is the lyrics. I always had a taste for very introspective lyrics, spoken in a vague artistic way, but always had a love for songs that delivered lyrics that were direct and to the point. Part of me always was afraid of what people may think if I was too open. I guess now I really dont give a fuck.”
The singles set a tone for a larger vision now coming into panoramic view. Trip-hop-infused November single “Daily Laws” – fueled by a bassline from a SG bass he picked up in Tokyo – is all about the art of negotiating with ourselves. Last month’s anxious “Drained” casts a look outward at the stresses and tensions we grapple with simply to get by and how those around us, as well as oppressive forces, conspire to keep us trapped in the Sisyphean game of life.
Balancing spaciousness with density shines across Mister Silence, from album opener “Beckon” and its minimalist confrontation to the abrasive and confrontational “Crashonomics,” which finds DePasquale exploring glitched-out hip-hop bars. “Pictures Of Us” is perhaps the closest sonic composition to DePasquale’s past life in Vary Lumar, blending synth and rock elements, and the sweeping track plays out like a page ripped from his personal diary.
“Mister Silence is all about growing older, being a bit wiser, reminiscing and learning from your past, staying true to oneself, taking liberties, while not being so damn aggressive about anything,” DePasquale says. “We live in a world where most people will wear emotions or show everything up front, looking for validation, and sometimes it is best to just be calm, quiet, thoughtful and reflective. Be silent until it makes sense not to be.”
Another revealing aspect of what DePasquale is aiming for with Ghost on TV – both with this new material and whatever comes after it – is derived from its moniker. With DePasquale expanding his cultural mindset through international travel and rekindling a love affair with music and its creation by reverting back to the classics, he got to thinking about the role of art and how it endures long after our human bodies give way.
“The name Ghost On TV came from the idea that artists and their art live forever for us to enjoy for as long as we like,” he posits. “I find it pretty cool that I can be inspired by someone who is no longer of the living.”
From artistic callbacks to yesterday to exploring Japan’s labyrinth cities that maintain an antiquated urban confinement and way of life, DePasquale is reaching back to paint a vivid portrait of today, flush with a kinetic knack for groove and hooks. With this record, disparate elements of styles and sounds are wrapped tightly around a rock music core. And like a back alley of Tokyo, what lurks on the other side, beyond what our mind perceives, may not be what we first anticipated. When DePasquale looked beyond what was right in front of him, Ghost on TV truly found its rhythm.
“On Mister Silence, there are tracks where I freestyle, dive into trip-hop, and explore grooves that I have never done before,” DePasquale notes. “I am trying to explore new areas while wrapping it in my comfort zone a little bit. Also, the instrumentations, arrangements, and sonic approach to the material are all new areas for me. There is the notion of ‘less is more’, but I’m also trying to evolve rock influenced music in a slightly new way.”
And he’s comfortable in allowing the listener to take Mister Silence out on their own journey, and connect in a way that’s appropriate for them.
“Love it or hate it, but just stand by it,” he concludes. “Let it find something in you that maybe you have needed to reflect on. Either way, if the emotion is raw, I have made art.”
Media Contact: Please direct press inquiries to Michael Marotta at michael@knyvet.com,
and reach Paul DePasquale of Ghost on TV at paul.depasquale5@gmail.com.
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‘Mister Silence’ production credits:
Written, produced and performed by Paul DePasquale
Recorded and mixed by Sean McLaughlin of 37’ Productions
Mastered by Jeff Lipton at Peerless Mastering in Boston, MA
Assistant Mastering Engineer: Costanza Tinti
Released on Swoom Records
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Ghost on TV short bio:
Ghost on TV is the new recording project from Boston-based multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer Paul DePasquale (Vary Lumar). After soft-releasing debut album Appealing and debut EP Melt on Mild in 2020 during the pandemic, Ghost on TV returns with two new singles – “Daily Laws” in November 2024 and “Drained” in January 2025 – via Swoom Records. Both tracks will be featured on Ghost on TV’s new album Mister Silence, set for release in February 2025.
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‘Mister Silence’ album artwork:
Designed by Paul DePasquale
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Media praise for Ghost on TV:
“A new level of cool.” _The Whole Kameese
“‘Drained’ is a distorted, addictive, and bass-drum motorized groove that goes on like forever with Krautrock-like dynamics while DePasquale’s vocals haunt all over it. Mind-twisting stuff for our daily rat race.” _Turn Up The Volume
“[‘Daily Laws’] is driven by an irresistibly funky bassline and a swagger-filled groove that grabs attention from the first note. Blending the intensity of alternative rock with the heady atmospherics of trip hop, Ghost on TV’s ‘Daily Laws’ recalls the likes of Radiohead and Animal Collective.”
_Living Life Fearless
“A cross between TV on the Radio and Soul Coughing yet not but also some ’90’s burgeoning Trip Hop and a little LCD Soundsystem thrown in for good measure, ‘Daily Laws’ is seemingly simple but reveals layer upon layer with each and every listen. [It] grows off a hypnotic bass line and thumping beats before [Paul] DePasquale’s soothing but also sexy voice delivers some low tones during the verses that directly leads into an impressive chorus to solidify the swag-infused song.”
_Rock And Roll Fables
“The latest from Ghost On TV doesn’t sound like it’s from a Boston based artist, which is one of the things we love about it. ‘Drained’ lands somewhere between the giant electronica hits of the late 90's and trip hop. It grooves just a little too hard to be trip hop. If you were around thirty years ago, ‘Drained’ is going to give you flashbacks to the music mostly coming out of England like Lionrock, Faithless, and others you all but forgot. It’s particularly reminding me of ‘Battleflag’ by Lo-Fi Allstars. Comparisons aside, Ghost On TV’s latest is more charmingly lo-fi than these other artists, with just enough of a rock base to not be going full on electronic music.” _If It’s Too Loud
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Ghost on TV press photo:
Photo Credit: Paul DePasquale
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Press Contact: Michael O’Connor Marotta at michael@knyvet.com
Band Contact: Paul DePasquale at paul.depasquale5@gmail.com
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