Deftones have announced a massive outdoor gig in London next summer, headlining a mini-festival of their own curation. Perhaps, in order to endear themselves to their future British hosts, they have performed live a cover of Japan’s “Ghosts,” which they initially released in 2011.
“Ghosts” is a song about a band in flux, but with a singer very sure of himself. Japan had hauled itself to success, but frontman David Sylvian wanted to go in a different direction from his bandmates, including his brother. The song dispenses with the rhythm section which had propelled the band’s pop sound. The fretless bass of Mick Karn was as distinctive as it was danceable, but it was not what Sylvian wanted. The song has no hummable melody, and uses electronics and simple percussion to create the mood. Unlike previous work credited to the band as a whole, this was the direction that Sylvian wanted to go on his own, and he got the writing credit. He felt he was heading in the right direction, but he didn’t convince the band. The song proved to be the band’s biggest hit in the UK, but they broke up soon after and, although the bandmembers worked and recorded together again, the Japan name and project died. Sylvian disappeared off to left-field, and left danceable rhythms aside permanently. He regrets that the ‘ghosts’ of his previous work held him back from this path for a time.
Deftones are comfortable with each other, and first recorded the song a decade ago, outlasting the entire history of Japan, so their version does not suggest ‘musical differences’ but does contain significant disharmony of an organized kind. Chino Moreno is also a significantly different frontman to Sylvian. He clearly doubts himself, but hides that behind bluster, displaying paranoia and a desperate need for control. He is addressing himself for the song, steeling himself for the action, however disastrous, he feels is necessary. The band feed his fears and that of the watching audience, as the horror begins to unfold. The whole band is included, including a bass but without a bassline as a solid footing, and there are unsettling additional images to confirm the mood. They succeed in creating a version of the song that is a threat rather than an affirmation of independence. A very successful subversion of the original.
