The music of Ghost Lion evokes a nighttime search party for a utopia intended for those fleeing a world on the edge of detonation. Its subtropical world-pop is emblematic of the South Florida culture where singer-songwriter, composer, and producer Blake Hanley grew up. At the time, West Palm Beach was a seemingly diverse city with a mosaic of different communities that, unfortunately, didn’t commingle.

“It felt very segregated—like we were all in these bubbles, and I was yearning to get out and understand other’s experiences,” Blake shares. “I hope with my music I can create a welcoming space that represents different cultures harmoniously coexisting. I want to break through all the divisions.”

Blake unites a variety of music traditions and cultures on Ghost Lion’s debut album, Nuclear Island. His deft and darkly cathartic melding of indie, pop, calypso, cumbia, South American folk, and electronic music shows seemingly worlds-apart artistic and cultural perspectives can co-exist. Ghost Lion songs feature nylon string acoustic guitar, distorted bass synths, electronic ambience, global rhythms, samples, and live drums played by Paul O’Leary.

Blake further bridges divides through his broadly resonant, vulnerable lyrics which address fears, spirituality, loneliness and loss, and existential questioning. “I strive to subvert the listeners’ biases and reasoning by going straight for the heart. That’s the way I feel like I can break boundaries and connect,” Blake says.

Blake released the first Ghost Lion EP, Ballad of St. Panama, in 2017. At the time, he was already an accomplished musician having previously won a Live Nation Battle of the Bands contest for employees worldwide where he played LA’s House Of Blues, and took home a grand prize of $35,000 which he used to purchase recording gear.

The momentum from the win eventually led to showcases for Republic/Universal and Vanguard Records. When these offers didn’t materialize, Blake heeded his drive to effect social justice through becoming a lawyer. Since 2018, he has worked for Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County which provides equal access to the judicial system to low-income residents. That same year, Blake relaunched Ghost Lion with drummer Paul O’Leary, played many opening-slot theater shows around Florida, and performed at Sunfest in West Palm Beach, FL. To date, Ghost Lion has released one EP, 5 singles, and its full-length, Nuclear Island.

Blake’s musical journey started with a classical guitar inspired by the self-titled Buena Vista Social Club album. His next epiphany was Nine Inch Nails. “I began asking myself what the middle ground between those two extremes would sound like,” he recalls. Further inspired by punk bands like the Clash and the Sex Pistols, and both group’s passion for politics and reggae music, Blake began to envision a genre-bursting music with a social commentary component.

Songwriting became a way to overcome his paralyzing shyness, and process his emotions. The name “Ghost Lion” came from friends calling him “Ghost" because he would disappear in the shadows. Blake added the “Lion” to represent the courage he wished he had to be known and loved. “There was this dueling tension between who I was and who I longed to be,” Blake explains. “‘Ghost Lion’ represents that tension in the duality of our humanity: the shadow self and the true self. Dark and light.”

The 13-song Nuclear Island explores relationships, heartbreak, a spiritual quest, and issues of identity. “When I wrote this album, it felt like my personal world and the actual world were on the verge of falling apart,” Blake shares. The vulnerable self-talk track, “Got It,” is a balmy banger bursting with soulfully longing vocals, moody atmospherics, and rugged EDM-inspired beats. Here, Blake’s words are anthemic, especially passages like: Hey no one can hold me back/Pulled your blade out of my back (Got it)/Ain't afraid to love or die/Afraid to live and never try.

The electro dream-pop track, “Sinking Stones,” is almost a prayer in song with the chorus lines: All we are, just sinking stones/Trying to find our way back home/To you. “It is a song written when it felt like everything was falling apart for me personally, and in the world at large. It’s asking God if there’s hope,” Blake shares.

The stunner, “Running Back To You,” is an urgent indie-pop track with explosive dynamics with ethereal passages contrasted with propulsive beats. The song captures that “it’s always darkest before dawn” sense of hope, and its accompanying video perfectly documents this frantic search with shadowy candlelit piano performances contrasted with aggressive nighttime live performances.

Ghost Lion’s most recently-released single, the beautifully stripped down “6th Wave,” puts his sensual nylon-string guitar playing and dynamically expressive vocals at the forefront. The song explores the isolation and disconnection Blake has always felt, but that was amplified during the pandemic.

Ghost Lion chronicles a profound inner journey for Blake, and the project has presented him with powerful reasons to push beyond his insecurities. He says: “People have told me that they’ve listened to certain songs and they’ve cried. That someone feels less alone because of my music makes me feel less alone—that keeps me going.”

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Written by Lorne Behrman