The 2020 Jester One Music Top 20 Countdown - #8

 #8. Ships In The Night - Lost Times


In the history of the Countdown, #8 has featured Billie Eilish, Ellie Goulding, Jordin Sparks, and Jess Lamb. I'd say it's a pretty solid spot for female pop musicians, although to call Ships In The Night strictly "pop" would be a gross understatement. Alethea Leventhal is the sole member of the outfit, which she describes as "witch house/vaporwave". It's an intriguing combo of things that I have been getting a lot more into in the last few years, although I cannot tell you specifically where I found this project. Either way, the band is built around beautiful ambient swirls of electric current and Leventhal's wispy, floating voice. I guess I could see comparisons to my favourite local act Curse of Cassandra here, minus the edgy club beats. 

Leventhal released "Lost Times" at Halloween last year after releasing a remix album to her 2017 debut Myriologues. The song hauntingly opens with the chorus line being sang backwards (and heavily distorted) before her real voice comes in and tells a story that seems to be centered either around the end of a life or another plane of existence. "There is a place that time stands still" is one of my favourite chorus lines of the entire year, and it is right at the chorus that the synths really pulse and drive their way into your eardrums. The video for the song almost seems purposefully low budget, with old style visualizations as if it were shot during an acid trip in the 90s. Interestingly, the video has over 17k views while the song only has 15k streams on Spotify. 

This is a band that I hope continues down their unique musical path - I think I'd enjoy falling in love with her music. Until then, we have "Lost Times", a song that I legitimately have not been able to shake from my mind since the first time I heard it. And it's only #8!


Favorite Line: "I’ll live in the shadow of your memory -  I’ll be the hideout for your history "






Title: Lost Times
Artist: Ships In The Night
Album: Lost Times single



Previous #8s
2019: Billie Eilish - You Should See Me In A Crown
2018: Miller and the Hunks - Gravity
2017: Circle of Dust - Machines of our Disgrace
2016: Jess Lamb and The Factory - End of the Line
2015: Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do
2014: Sleeper Agent - Waves
2013: Paper Route - Letting You Let Go
2012: Demon Hunter - Dead Flowers
2011: Emmure - Children of Cybertron
2010: 30 Seconds to Mars - Kings and Queens
2009: Jordin Sparks - Battlefield