Lankum have offered up a cover version of The Specials’ “Ghost Town,” which is fitting for this time of the year as goblins and ghouls and all things spooky move to the forefront. The Irish band also shared a music video for the eight-minute recording, shot on location in County Wicklow, a region south of Dublin. The clip was directed by Leonn Ward and filmed by Robbie Ryan, who served as cinematographer on recent movies including Poor Things, Marriage Story, and C’mon C’mon.
“‘Ghost Town’ came to us through some curious circumstances,” the band shared. “Oona Doherty, who we were familiar with through her phenomenal dance work on the video for Gilla Band’s ‘Shoulderblades,’ contacted us and told us about a new show she was putting together [Specky Clark]. It was about her great-great-grandfather being sent to Belfast as a child to live with his aunts and work in an abattoir. She wanted a new piece of music for the show, for a party scene set on Halloween night, and told us she wanted it to start out indistinguishable and woozy, before developing into the very recognizable track by The Specials.
“At first we were slightly reticent, since a cover of a ska tune wasn’t something we’d usually ever consider, but after a bit of deliberation we decided we’d give it a shot, and the result took us on an incredibly enjoyable journey that had us gleefully playing with synthesisers and drum machines in Hellfire Studios, trying to come up with the scaldiest ’90s sounding techno for the outro section of the track.”
Check out the music video for “Ghost Town” below, and pre-order the 12-inch release of the track here.
