In an industry in which many actors make the shift to a musical career, Your Future Ghost is one of the most promising groups on that list. The duo consists of Billboard-charting singer/songwriter, musician and actress Kate Voegele and multifaceted songwriter, producer, composer and actor Michael Grubbs. Both artists have solo music careers spanning back to the early 2000s.
Despite the duo just now beginning their musical career together, the pair began their collaborative journey years ago while both acting in the CW series “One Tree Hill.” Their creative energy was palpable even then and has now fused into the new synth-pop/rock musical experience, Your Future Ghost.
The two friends began their official journey, based in mutual creative respect, by collaborating musically over Zoom during the pandemic. They expanded their domain of partnership with months of studio sessions in Austin, Texas, the birthplace of Your Future Ghost.
“Our voices blended in a way that inspired us both to write in this unique hemisphere of a sound neither of us had ever really explored before in our solo projects,” Voegele said.
Your Future Ghost performed its immediately recognizable sound at the globally renowned Art Basel festival in Miami to an overwhelmingly positive response, which affirmed the duo’s artistic direction. Using this momentum, the group began work on its upcoming album, the leading single of which is titled "We've Got Places."
The gritty indie pop/rock album will feature a collection of joyful, yet dark pop songs. The group's style is rooted in a powerful blend of guitars, thunderous drums and striking synths, a trend the album promises to follow. The record centers around “finding the fun, the party and the refuge in the chaos of a post-apocalyptic world,” Voegele said.
In line with the album's intentions, Voegele also said the recently released single off the album is “about that place where you find refuge from whatever noise is going on in the world – whether it’s an actual place, a person or something else, I think we all have those places where we can escape the chaos and be ourselves.”
The song begins with an endearing and crisp guitar accompaniment to Voegele’s lofty and distorted vocals. The addition of piano in the background gives the first minute of the song an anticipatory depth that is resolved by the upbeat chorus. The abrupt energy shift is crafted with an enticing electric rhythm guitar and a crunchy synth harmony hanging above the rest of the musical combination. Complete with stunning layered harmonies and lush instrumentation, the track drives home the group's signature enthralling indie synth-pop sound.
In contrast to the grungy depth of the instrumentals, the lyrics of the song are surprisingly sweet. The juxtaposition of the two reinforces the idea that nothing is as simple as it seems and there is beauty in the chaos of an intense experience. The song is an undeniably exciting preamble to what will be an equally relatable and profound album.
Inspired by community, experience in the spotlight and the freedom of living authentically and unapologetically, Your Future Ghost embodies a captivating paradox within its collaboration that the duo hopes to inspire listeners with.
"I would like to encourage folks to accept themselves. Which isn’t easy,“ Grubbs said. “I’m like this sad-boy emo dude and Kate is this singer-songwriter pop star, and together we’re making this dirty indie album because that’s who we’ve always really been inside."
Your Future Ghost’s music is poised and impactful, a showcase of the group's boundless talent and unbridled creativity. There is a bright future in store for this band that can hook listeners with only three minutes of content and excite them to come along for the ride.
