I Don't Need Help

At times, I Don't Need Help feels like mania itself, guided by gentle guitar through swathes of imposing distorted instrumentation, metallic drums and vocals that twist themselves around intense bass. But midway through, the track completely upends itself - at the end of this tunnel, bright and cavernous, what were once quiet parts boom, crackle and soar. It mirrors how we got here.

Last February, two years and three EPs into his run with Hausu, Matthew Xavier Corrigan played a sold-out hometown gig in support of his latest project Fever Dreaming. Brighter days were ahead; gigs around the country, a summer bouncing between his own project and touring with Alex Gough on festival stages across Europe. With all that gone, the only thing left to do was to hit reset - clear out the project folders, hit the home studio, and record. And after teasing different versions of his future in little "illicit crates" in the back half of 2020, Ghostking is Dead now returns with the fruits of a year singularly devoted to his craft.

I Don't Need Help is the cold water - a first foray into wild, uncharted territory, a new surge of activity for the project, and a promise of new material to come.

I Don't Need Help also reprises Corrigan's long-running collaboration with visual artist Neil O'Sullivan-Greene who imagines him on the single cover cut out against a surreal 3D landscape; turning itself inside-out, yet contained within four walls.