With a sound that’s something between Smashing Pumpkins and Lou Reed comes New York based art rocker, Ghost x Gardens, with his new album, ‘Heartbreak Hotel Chelsea’, released on 18 August.
The album was recorded while Ghost x Gardens was a permanent resident of the world famous Chelsea Hotel, and he manages to weave in some chatter with the hotel’s legendary cross-dressing matriarch, Stormé DeLarverie. Stormé, a performer and MC at the Apollo, is credited with throwing the first punch of the Stonewall Riots, in 1969. She died in 2014, and the extracts are her last known recordings. Her speaking voice is creaky with age, but this all drops away once she starts singing, a rich and powerful jazz vocal.
Ghost x Gardens, real name Adam Rushfield, is a singer songwriter and moved into the Chelsea after staying there many times, and eventually being granted the right to move in permanently, by The Chelsea’s gatekeeper, Stanley Bard. The Chelsea being a hotel which catered to artists meant that Adam was able to write and record music any time of the day or night. But soon after moving in, it all started falling apart. Stanley was forced out by majority shareholder owners, and it meant that permanent residents were also targets.
You can find out more about Ghost x Gardens online on Twitter and Instagram, as well as his official website. You can also download the Ghost x Gardens app on iTunes and Google Play – more information on his website. ‘Heartbreak Hotel Chelsea’ is available to stream on Spotify and download from iTunes.
