Nearly two weeks ago, the fictional indie band venturing released their debut album Ghostholding. Prior to December 5th, 2024, those aware of ‘venturing’ could tell you their origins of being a South Dakota indie rock band who had an active career between 1990 and 2002. Similar to other shoegaze and midwest
emo bands, venturing took the path of being ‘rediscovered’ by a later generation. Their music was recovered by a fictional girl named Violet, who spent her time uploading venturing’s catalogue online. This storyline, though interesting, was quickly retconned upon the announcement of their album, by none other than its creator, Illinois-based artist Jane Remover.
Jane Remover was using ‘venturing’ as a pseudonym, releasing a handful of songs under the fictional band to possibly explore this genre without having it attached to the ‘Jane Remover’ project. Those who are already familiar with Jane Remover may recall their debut album Frailty (2021); As that album was a revolutionary contribution to the digicore and ‘internet music’ scene, alongside gaining immense critical acclaim. For newer fans like myself, maybe you were introduced to Jane Remover through their sharp and flashy hyper pop-esc singles ‘Flash in The Pan’, ‘Magic I Want U’, and ‘JRJRJR’, which were released in the album roll-out for their upcoming 2025 album Revengeseekerz.
Ghostholding strays away from this digicore, Jane Removers pioneered subgenre ‘dariacore’, and most of the heavily digital sphere entirely. Instead, Ghostholding aligns itself with the familiar sounds found on Jane Remover's sophomore album Census Designated (2023). When creating Census Designated, Jane Remover shot for a broader definition of a genre for the project, describing it to Stereogum as “straight-up rock”. Ghostholding comes across as Census Designated’s sister with both albums dipping into the same Midwest emo, dazed 90’s shoegaze, and Ethel Cain pot of inspiration. Through Ghostholding, Jane Remover is not only exploring these subgenres of rock but is taking the time to get vulnerable with them, leading to this introspective body of work.
In Ghostholding, Jane Remover sticks to the traditional foundations of music, relying on a guitar, drums, and bass to carry the album from start to finish. For some listeners– including my father who was present in one of my listening sessions– using these basic elements led to the critique of repetitiveness or lack of variety throughout the album. Personally, I found the repeated use of similar sounds aided the listening experience. It comes across as Jane Remover creating a distinct and clear atmosphere within Ghostholding. Once listeners have been slipped into the contemplative mindset, there is nothing to break them from that, allowing for easy digestion of the album without getting rattled by a drastic shift.
[ Jane Remover Photographed by @burtoo ]
The tightened drums and psychedelic guitar spin into these mellow melodies that give the allusion of accompaniment, as if you’re sitting next to Jane Remover on their journey throughout this album. Ghostholding follows the travelling aspects of Census Designated, where a fascination with the open road and empty space are key to understanding the creation of the album. “There’s so many places, especially the Pacific Northwest, where there’s just so much vast nothingness, and that’s really beautiful and I wanted to capture that,” Jane Remover had told Them in 2023 when asked about Census Designated. With this information, alongside acknowledging the fact Jane Remover created Ghostholding with no outsourced help, the album blaring becomes deeply personal, as we’re being forced to experience the deep-rooted longing, regret, and overwhelm Jane Remover has.
Ghostholding is both manic and calm as if we’re experiencing everything at once, but yet nothing at all. This album is knees pulled to your chest in the back of the car. You’re wearing wired earbuds drowning out the sound of tires on gravel. It is a humid summer evening. Your gaze is fixated on the orange sunset over the farmland. You’re reflecting on where you went wrong, and how you got here. There’s a deep sense of yearning, but you aren’t sure for what. You ponder the great divine as stars begin to creep into the sky, and the car continues to run.
I found it incredibly difficult to give recommendations off Ghostholding, as I believe the album is best listened to as a cohesive body of work, as each track flows into the next.
‘Play my guitar’ is a strong and solid opening track, with the guitar immersing you into the world of Ghostholding immediately. There’s something so captivating about the urgency and near grief Jane Remover displays within the last chorus, transitioning from this calm yet firm; “I don’t want something to happen to you / Teach me how to play my guitar” to a rugged shout of; “Just hated being alone”. The tone for Ghostholding is immediately set from ‘Play my guitar’ and is only picked up from there.
‘Believe’ was another standout track due to Jane Remover's enunciation of the lyrics throughout. They play around with religious themes here, intertwining the conversation of God, Jesus, and overall faith with their own selfish wants and attitudes. They continuously ask the muse in the song; “Do you believe in me?” before pleading further with; “Baby believe in me”. They appear as if they’re attempting to spin someone’s faith from a righteous figure to themselves. This idea is emphasized by the lyrics; “When I play that song, know you’ll go to sing along // Have your mind on repeat”. Between the lyricism and bouncy guitar, ‘Believe’ is sure to leave a lasting impact, and even end up on a few playlists as a solo song.
‘Recoil’ has a local basement show atmosphere to it which was a fun shift from the dreamy and melancholy attitudes we had seen thus far. All the instruments are tightened up, relying less on the drawn-out and spacy atmospheric elements and instead utilizing the brash tones a set of drums and a guitar can create. Jane Remover leans into a raspy shouting voice within this track as well, tying everything in a nice bow, and really driving home the underground rock show elements. Although it’s hard to say if they’d ever play it live, as Ghostholding isn’t a direct Jane Remover track, ‘Recoil’ would make a phenomenal addition to a setlist, especially in a smaller venue.
The last two tracks from my recommendation are ‘Famous Girl’ and ‘Sister’. Both songs were released as singles before Ghostholding touched down on streaming services. ‘Famous Girl’ has this rock chunk to it that is similar to ‘Recoil’, but begins and ends with slower lethargic beats to keep the flow of the album. ‘Sister’, on the other hand, is completely bittersweet, the perfect end to this self-reflective album. As Ghostholding was written between 2022 and 2024, it encapsulates a bit of that musical coming of age for Jane Remover, and ‘Sister’ just works to illustrate that. It takes all the themes featured throughout the album and closes them off, leaving no loose ends.
With the state of modern music, where everything is meant to be quickly digested, it can be hard to create an album closer. It is even harder to create an album closer that matters and leaves an impact. After listening to Ghostholding in its entirety, and then hitting ‘Sister’ at the end, there is this wild sense of emotion that comes flooding in. Whether it be caused by the song's subject matter, Jane Remover’s vocal performance, or the wobbly unsettling bass, ‘Sister’ has left multiple listeners in tears upon finishing the track, checking all the boxes of what a powerful closer should be. This final track alone cements Ghostholding as being yet another outstanding addition to Jane Remover's discography.
You can stream Ghostholding now via deadAir. You can also catch Jane Remover on their ‘Turn Up Or Die’ Spring Headlining Tour Here.
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