For the uninitiated, Sonatore is a self-described “digital avatar” – a bend of an art project that mixes vintage aesthetics, analog photography and original musical compositions as an online entity. They often perform in a veil, a way of obfuscating themselves from reality and, from what we’ve heard of the music thus far, contextualizing the listener into a bit of a mournful state.
“I’M A GH_ST,” the latest single and video from Sonatore, is a reflective and quietly defiant track with lyrics that skirt the line between a forlorn yearning of an ex-lover and an empowered dismissal of an abusive partner. It’s a ballad built on sparse electronic beats and twinkling keys, giving plenty of space for the ethereal vocals to drive the track.
The video, courtesy of AMPM VIDEO, casts a haunting electric blue visage of Sonatore throughout an empty house. This acts as both a fitting vessel for the lyrics of the song and doubles down on the “digital avatar” state of being; are these memories of a broken relationship? Is this one scorned lover looking to the past? Or is this simply Sonatore’s only means of existence?
There’s a body of work from Sonatore over on Bandcamp that dates back as far as 2017 but the output makes a noted increase starting in the spring of 2020. With each release it’s clear that the output is finding its footing on to more solid ground (though there are some funky keyboard breaks from March 2020 I’d love to hear come back). “I’M A GH_ST” acts as both an excellent introduction to the realm of Sonatore and as a contemplative treatise on letting go of the past.