"Ghost Town"

31 October 2025

8 mins 07s

Ghost Town

It takes guts to cover a song like 'Ghost Town'. Anglo-Brazilian duo Zeep took a stab at the Specials in 2009, followed by Duran Duran in 2023—now it's the turn of Irish folk group Lankum. Rather than settle for a quick and easy cover, Cormac MacDiarmada, Radie Peat, and brothers Ian and Daragh Lynch turn 'Ghost Town' into an eight-minute noise epic.

The instrumentation is sparse at first, though listeners know where they are as certain notes creep in. Then there's Peat's plaintive vocals, doleful lyrics that lead to a wail of discontent, and a third-act twist that takes the song to a whole new part of town. This is where the pressure that's built up over the past six minutes is released to heady effect.

It's matched to a sombre promo directed by Leonn Ward, lensed by Robbie Ryan, and shot in County Wicklow. As a man wanders a city left to rot by the powers that be, the band find themselves in the countryside, where there's room to spend all that pent-up energy and frustration. Keep up, if you can.

Ireland

Promos