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ReleaseProduct
How Ghosts Affect Relationships
Artist
Display Artist
His Name Is Alive
Label
4AD
Catalogue Number
4AD0412
Release Date
September 27, 2024
  • Vinyl Boxset 6×LP, Coloured Vinyl

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    • + WAV / FLAC
    • + Signed Print

    4AD0412LPXE

    • 3x 2LP expanded albums
    • Limited edition of 1000 copies
    • Foil-stamp numbered
    • Remastered by Warren Defever
    • 32-page book by Martin Aston
    • Contributions from Ivo Watts-Russell, Johnny Jewel and more
    • 3 Original album prints
    • Signed photograph

Warren Defever’s beloved, long-standing ethereal darkwave project His Name Is Alive has a long history with 4AD, and in celebration of the band’s early works, 4AD are proud to be releasing the strictly limited, Deluxe 6xLP, 63-track Boxset entitled How Ghosts Affect Relationships: 1990-1993, available September 27 exclusively on the 4AD webstore and Bandcamp.

This essential collectible compiles the first three His Name Is Alive albums (Livonia, Home Is In Your Head, and Mouth By Mouth), sourced from the original analogue tapes and painstakingly remastered by Defever himself (at Third Man Mastering), with three additional LPs of rich, bonus material and unreleased tracks (including The Dirt Eaters EP). The collection is also accompanied by an extensive 36-page book authored by 4AD biographer Martin Aston, detailing the fascinating story of His Name Is Alive’s early period with previously unseen imagery and ephemera, as well as written contributions from Ivo Watts-Russell, Johnny Jewel, and more.

The collection of only 1,000 Limited Edition Foil-Stamped Numbered copies, delivered in a hard slipcase box, also features overall design by Chris Bigg (including unique-to-this-release reimagined gatefold sleeves), respectfully reimagined from original Art Direction and Design by Vaughan Oliver/v23. Also in the box includes a replica of each album’s original promotional poster, and a signed print.

Additionally, as of today, the 4AD YouTube channel is also hosting hi-res versions of His Name Is Alive’s two Quay Brothers-directed music videos, “Are We Still Married?” and “Can’t Go Wrong Without You.”

More on His Name Is Alive

From Livonia, Michigan, His Name Is Alive is known primarily as the creative outlet of Warren Defever who in the early-90s, along with vocalist Karin Oliver, became an integral part of 4AD’s storied history after label founder Ivo Watts-Russell fell deeply for their dark and fragmented sound; their self-released cassettes mysteriously landing in the post, consistently improving until he could ignore no more. Having recently reissued those early tracks as part of the lauded A Silver Thread trilogy, the light now turns to their first three albums proper.

Signing to 4AD in 1989, as Throwing Muses, Pixies, and The Breeders were beating a new transatlantic path for the label, they proved perfectly paired. While their sound was more in line with the gothic echoes of Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance than the visceral college rock of the aforementioned, His Name Is Alive also had a different, nonpareil quality, something existing on the boundary of this earth and another realm further underground. It was this otherness that piqued interest and proved the fulcrum of an unpredictable sound that often-changed tack before listeners could second guess.

Their debut album Livonia, in all its broken jigsaw-piece glory, appeared in the summer of 1990. Produced by Ivo and his This Mortal Coil collaborator John Fryer, working from recordings Warren had sent their way (he later commented that they “took it apart, and didn't put it back together"), on the surface, their signing made sense among the label’s well-established ethereal lineage. It was only after listeners started to peel away its layers that they discovered not only had the 4AD sound been reinvented and refracted through a prism, the album was an extraordinary depiction of a disturbing and often exquisite vista. A study in shadows, the album examined the dual themes of love and loss, being woozily delivered as if dreamlike. When reissued a few years later in the US, the album’s title track was added – a non-linear study in guitar distortion – which completed the record and is a track that now stands out as one of the band’s finest moments.

1991 saw their second album, Home Is In Your Head, arrive. Again, recorded in Defever's home studio then remixed by Ivo and John, its 23 songs quick-fire emotions, with moments of calm soon clashing with white noise and chaos. The listener is left enthralled by both its beauty and darkness, Warren’s inspired productions proving utterly unique. There is nothing else quite like this. Now in full flow, they followed the album in 1992 with The Dirt Eaters, an EP that leant on folk over avant-pop, even getting away with uncleared samples from Hollywood films like “I'd eat all the dirt in this yard for you. And all the weeds. And all the dog bones too, if you asked me.”

1993’s Mouth By Mouth saw a marked shift, both sonically and stylistically. In addition to featuring more contributors, it was the first His Name Is Alive album where the band controlled all processes including its production, mixing and editing. Growing with each release, order of play saw sparsity and intrigue being replaced by an extraordinary adventuring approach to sound and vision that left Warren free to indulge his love for all kinds of music, be it 1960s pop, dub, jazz or noise. Embracing the surreal, His Name Is Alive were out in their own lane and with Warren’s studio skills truly blossoming, many see this as a high point for the band.

Three decades on and His Name Is Alive’s mark on the scene is indelible, excitingly with a whole new audience now discovering them.

Digital Tracklist

Disc 1

  1. 1 As We Could Ever (2024 Remaster) 3:25 Buy

    As We Could Ever (2024 Remaster)

  2. 2 E Nicolle (Introduction) (2024 Remaster) 1:07 Buy

    E Nicolle (Introduction) (2024 Remaster)

  3. 3 If July (2024 Remaster) 3:53 Buy

    If July (2024 Remaster)

  4. 4 Some And I (2024 Remaster) 3:37 Buy

    Some And I (2024 Remaster)

  5. 5 Fossil (Verse) (2024 Remaster) 1:35 Buy

    Fossil (Verse) (2024 Remaster)

  6. 6 E Nicolle (2024 Remaster) 3:57 Buy

    E Nicolle (2024 Remaster)

  7. 7 Caroline's Supposed Demon (2024 Remaster) 2:36 Buy

    Caroline's Supposed Demon (2024 Remaster)

  8. 8 Fossil (2024 Remaster) 3:26 Buy

    Fossil (2024 Remaster)

  9. 9 Reincarnation (2024 Remaster) 1:58 Buy

    Reincarnation (2024 Remaster)

  10. 10 You And I Have Seizures (2024 Remaster) 3:06 Buy

    You And I Have Seizures (2024 Remaster)

Disc 2

  1. 1 Are You Comin' Down This Weekend? (2024 Remaster) 0:17 Buy

    Are You Comin' Down This Weekend? (2024 Remaster)

  2. 2 Her Eyes Were Huge Things (2024 Remaster) 1:38 Buy

    Her Eyes Were Huge Things (2024 Remaster)

  3. 3 The Charmer (2024 Remaster) 2:12 Buy

    The Charmer (2024 Remaster)

  4. 4 Hope Called In Sick (2024 Remaster) 1:35 Buy

    Hope Called In Sick (2024 Remaster)

  5. 5 My Feathers Needed Cleaning (2024 Remaster) 2:28 Buy

    My Feathers Needed Cleaning (2024 Remaster)

  6. 6 The Well (2024 Remaster) 2:25 Buy

    The Well (2024 Remaster)

  7. 7 There's Something Between Us And He's Changing My Words (2024 Remaster) 1:20 Buy

    There's Something Between Us And He's Changing My Words (2024 Remaster)

  8. 8 The Phoenix, A Pool Of Ice (2024 Remaster) 0:50 Buy

    The Phoenix, A Pool Of Ice (2024 Remaster)

  9. 9 Are We Still Married? (2024 Remaster) 2:51 Buy

    Are We Still Married? (2024 Remaster)

  10. 10 Put Your Finger In Your Eye (2024 Remaster) 0:44 Buy

    Put Your Finger In Your Eye (2024 Remaster)

Disc 3

  1. 1 Baby Fish Mouth (2024 Remaster) 2:32 Buy

    Baby Fish Mouth (2024 Remaster)

  2. 2 Lip (2024 Remaster) 2:57 Buy

    Lip (2024 Remaster)

  3. 3 Cornfield (2024 Remaster) 3:15 Buy

    Cornfield (2024 Remaster)

  4. 4 In Every Ford (2024 Remaster) 3:43 Buy

    In Every Ford (2024 Remaster)

  5. 5 Lord, Make Me A Channel Of Your Peace (2024 Remaster) 2:17 Buy

    Lord, Make Me A Channel Of Your Peace (2024 Remaster)

  6. 6 Drink, Dress, and Ink (2024 Remaster) 2:30 Buy

    Drink, Dress, and Ink (2024 Remaster)

  7. 7 Where Knock Is Open Wide (2024 Remaster) 2:46 Buy

    Where Knock Is Open Wide (2024 Remaster)

  8. 8 Can't Go Wrong Without You (2024 Remaster) 3:14 Buy

    Can't Go Wrong Without You (2024 Remaster)

  9. 9 Jack Rabbits (2024 Remaster) 1:50 Buy

    Jack Rabbits (2024 Remaster)

  10. 10 Sort Of (2024 Remaster) 1:03 Buy

    Sort Of (2024 Remaster)

Show All Tracks 77

His Name Is Alive

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