Singled Out: Wayward Sons' Ghosts Of Yet To Come

Wayward Sons are releasing their new album "Ghosts Of Yet To Come" this Friday and to celebrate we asked Toby Jepson (Little Angels, Dio's Disciples, Fastway) to tell us about the title track. Here is the story:

I knew from the moment I accepted the proposal to make this record that I wanted to write about subjects that meant a lot to me, to explore my anger and frustration at world events as well as my own personal inner demons, so the narrative of the album became essential to get right. I didn't want this record to be simply riff driven, or the sonics be the centre of it all, it had to be about what I was saying, and how I said it. It needed to be my truth, warts and all. A very song centric album for want of better description.

So I spent quite a bit of time 'filling the reservoir' by revisiting and falling in love all over again with my favourite albums, and being as honest as I could be about my genuine touchstone artist and records, some of which surprised me! I found that even though the usual suspects were there, I was also as much as interested in bringing my love of British punk rock - GBH, anti nowhere league, Pistols and also the American and European new wave of the late 70's/early 80's - Blondie, Elvis Costello etc - to the table, as in all honesty, a lot of that sound has accompanied me as an artist in equal measure as my hard rock hero's.

It's funny, but long ago, I realised I'd grown tired of the labels, and just started listening to music! It's either good or bad to me, it just so happens I love the sound of loud guitars!!! Once I had digested and stimulated I began to write and one of the first songs to really crystallise and form the clear ethic of the album was the title track 'Ghost of yet to come' it is the central message of the record: I believe that we, as communities all over the world,
specifically in the developed wealthy 1st world, have become somewhat detached from reality where we view everything through a screen, make our judgements based on how many of our FB friends agree with our status, rather than seeking the facts and making a human judgement call.

We jump to conclusion, attack from behind a keyboard, say anything, no matter how ill judged and informed, and somehow it has become acceptable to behave terribly towards often the most vulnerable and disenfranchised in our societies. We dismiss clear fact in favour of what we want to hear and sadly many find it easy to have no sympathy with others in terrible situations.

This seems to be leading to mass paranoid and hysteria, I genuinely don't know what has happened to common sense? I guess giving everyone a platform to announce them selves has had as many negative results as positive, and so the title represents that modern phenomenon - we're terrified of things that have not yet happened due to the overhype and desensitisation - the song and ultimately, the whole record, seeks to stimulate the discussion about what I feel are some of the most important questions facing our world right now; who are we? What have we become? Where do we want to go? And how long can we keep this up? Please understand, I'm not trying to preach, I'm not a religious man by any stretch, but I do think we as artists have a responsibility to challenge and ask questions, in anyway we feel we can. I choose to do it with a rye smile as well as meaning every bloody word whilst we rock hard!

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album right here!

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