"Ghost Voices" is a song by American

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

producer Porter Robinson under the alias Virtual Self. It was released on November 8, 2017 as the second single from the alias' debut EP '' Virtual Self''. Robinson wrote, produced, and performed the track. The song is classified by Robinson on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

as " neotrance". An official audio video was released via Robinson's YouTube channel, in which the song plays over a visualizer depicting moving orbs of light orbiting a floating crystal connected by cables to something off-screen. An official music video was released via Robinson's YouTube channel on February 28, 2018. In July 2018, Robinson released a

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

of the song, "Angel Voices", one of VR game ''

Beat Saber ''Beat Saber'' is a virtual reality rhythm game developed and published by Czech game developer Beat Games. It takes place in a surrealistic neon environment and features the player slicing blocks representing musical beats with a pair of contr ...

s default tracks. "Ghost Voices" received a nomination for

Best Dance Recording The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (formerly known as Best Dance Recording) is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists f ...

at the

61st Annual Grammy Awards The 61st Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 10, 2019, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys hosted. During her opening monologue, Keys brought out Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Lopez, and fo ...

Background

Released fourteen days after Virtual Self's first release, "

Eon Break "Eon Break" is a song by American electronic music producer Porter Robinson, under the alias Virtual Self. It was released on October 25, 2017 as the first single from his debut EP under the alias, ''Virtual Self (EP), Virtual Self''. An official m ...

", "Ghost Voices" was announced via Robinson's

account, as well as the Twitter account of Virtual Self. The track follows in the previous single's footsteps, as it is also a stark divergence from Robinson's collaboration with fellow electronic music producer and close friend

Madeon Hugo Pierre Leclercq (; born 30 May 1994), better known by his stage name Madeon (), is a French DJ and music producer from Nantes, currently based in Los Angeles. He initially came to widespread public attention at 17 through a YouTube video, " ...

, "

Shelter Shelter is a small building giving temporary protection from bad weather or danger. Shelter may also refer to: Places * Port Shelter, Hong Kong * Shelter Bay (disambiguation), various locations * Shelter Cove (disambiguation), various locatio ...

", as well as Robinson's debut album, '' Worlds''. Virtual Self continued to build on its cryptic, techno-based social media presence with the release of "Ghost Voices".

Composition

"Ghost Voices" begins with a vocal-like synth, not dissimilar to some of Robinson's '' Worlds'' synths. The drums then join in, with a classic trance beat. A vocal then joins in, with a heavy echo placed on it. The synths that follow are reminiscent of the late 1990s and early 2000s trance music sounds, with heavy delays and echoed vocals. The track includes elements of trance and deep house.

Critical Reception

Philip Sherburne of

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

stated in his review of Virtual Self, "...the song’s lithe vocal flips and slinky air peg it to the post-

Disclosure Disclosure may refer to: Arts and media * ''Disclosure'' (The Gathering album), 2012 *Disclosure (band), a UK-based garage/electronic duo * ''Disclosure'' (novel), 1994 novel written by Michael Crichton ** ''Disclosure'' (1994 film), an American ...

era; it’s the record’s most contemporary-sounding cut." Trillvo stated that "Hearing songs like this and '

', I can’t help but think back to those old school video games that seemed to inspire tracks like these. This track reminds me of some catchy menu music you’d hear in a Marvel Vs. Capcom or Tekken game, and I absolutely love that feeling of nostalgia."

Release history

Charts

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2017 singles 2017 songs Porter Robinson songs House music songs Song recordings produced by Porter Robinson Songs written by Porter Robinson