“There’s life and there’s death. We were still alive, so we thought we’d carry on doing it,” Stephen Morris said in 1983 about New Order, a diamond formed in the pressure of grief after the death of Joy Divison’s Ian Curtis. For Injury Reserve bandmates Ritchie With a T and Parker Corey, the death of Stepa J. Groggs applied a similar pressure to reinvent and carry on as duo. Now, five years removed from By The Time I Get to Phoenix, the final release from Injury Reserve, By Storm have emerged with their debut album—a set of glitchy, rabid electronics that captures the process of grieving, maturing, and moving forward, whether they like it or not.
Injury Reserve made their name with brash experimental raps that were as heady as they were fun. By Storm redirects that youthful energy toward something more contemplative but just as intense. In 2023, they debuted with the single “Double Trio,” a free jazz-rap epic that captured the panic of a band in forced metamorphosis. They toured in the years following By The Time I Get to Phoenix against a backdrop of global upheaval and personal change. “That’s the scramble,” Ritchie said at the L.A. premiere of the “Double Trio” music video. “This thing’s happening. You’re wondering how you’re going to navigate this, but the reality of this situation is whatever we want.”
Both the lyrics and production of My Ghosts Go Ghost feel more conversational and off-cuff than anything the duo have previously attempted. Jangly guitars and vaporwave sample collages shiver and burst, while Ritchie raps with an improvisational sensibility. On “In My Town,” he criss-crosses between his financial difficulties, the harshness of touring, and a new baby on the way. After his verse, the track lingers for nearly three minutes with no distinct direction. Corey’s enormous productions and Ritchie’s conversational flows feel hypnotic in dark rooms over large sound systems, but on an intimate listen, moments like these meander.
The album’s occasional lack of momentum is echoed in its lyrical focus on languishing and resisting change. On “Can I Have You For Myself?,” Ritchie addresses his partner on the eve of their child’s birth, tempering his gratitude with a desire for things to stay the way they are. Dean Blunt-like guitar strums establish calm before the storm, which arrives with a waltzing rhythm suitable for a first dance. My Ghosts Go Ghost works best when its gears grind to create an attention-grabbing dissonance. “Best Interest” puts Polly Bradfield-esque violin improvisations and a dreary billy woods verse on top of a fairly straightforward beat and rhyme from Ritchie. And the duo sounds freer than ever on tracks like “Dead Weight,” with its frantic drumming reminiscent of Rashied Ali or black midi’s Morgan Simpson.
My Ghost Go Ghost peaks with its final act, when the duo frames its experience as something to appreciate, not only lament. “And I Dance” comes at the perfect moment for a wash of catharsis as Ritchie celebrates having made it to “the other side.” “And I Dance” also makes for the most tightly written song on My Ghosts Go Ghost. Ritchie’s raps feel pointed and specific, and even the flashier moments—electronic squelches that burst and break like an Arca production—pack a harder punch in their containment. It’s gratifying to hear Ritchie and Parker Corey find inspiration in a place of hard-earned peace in their artistic and personal lives: They’re no longer anchored to their past but fueled by the promise of their future.
