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Aug 25, 2022 By Caleb Campbell

Spirit Ghost is the musical solo project of Austin-based singer/songwriter Alex Whitelaw. Created as an initially insular bedroom effort, the project has steadily grown in ambition and scale over the years, incorporating traces of surf, jazz, pop, and indie rock while remaining steadfastly independent. Fans last heard from Whitelaw with his 2018 record, Skeleton Surf Rider, followed this year by good night, good morning, his collaborative EP with Austin indie outfit brother sports. Today, Whitelaw is back with his latest single as Spirit Ghost, “No Future,” premiering early with Under the Radar.

Over the years, Whitelaw has largely remained the sole creative force behind Spirit Ghost. “No Future” is one of the few times this has changed, with Whitelaw joined by Billy Hickey on drums, JB Bergin on bass, and Tim Zoidis on lead guitar. The track was written in the beginning days of the pandemic, and finds Whitelaw drawing on the despair and frustration of that period, staring down a future that has seemingly fallen apart within weeks一“Don’t waste my time again / Don’t you waste my time / Always there’s no future / I feel dumb and useless.” However, in a work of potent contrasts, Whitelaw accompanies his confessions with a dose of breezy indie surf rock, delivering effortless melodies and instantly catchy guitar lines.

Whitelaw says of the track, “‘No Future’ is about the pessimism we all feel from time to time. It delves deep into the fear of feeling like no matter how hard you try for what you want, it still might not work out. It talks about this idea of maybe it would be better if I set my sights lower, if I didn’t dream as big. I think I always have these feelings that creep in, ‘What the hell am I doing? Why do I think I can do this in any capacity? I wrote all my good songs already so just hang it up now.’ ‘I feel dumb and useless’ pretty much sums up how I had been feeling about myself while writing this song.”

Check out the song early below. Spirit Ghost has more music to follow later this year.