'Ghost Bees' are twin sisters Romy and Sari Lightman. Over antique Mandolin and Guitar accompaniment, they weave intricate vocal harmonies, dispensing dramatic tales and sorrowful lament like a two-headed, female balladeer.

“Tasseomancy” is an introduction to the music of Ghost Bees: twin telepaths Romy and Sari Lightman create a collection of songs imparting tales of past empires and great great ancestry; fabled figures and sorrowful lament, with vocals appendaged together like a two headed balladeer. “Tasseomancy” begins in the kitchen of The Grandmother in 1904. It is the story of the tea leaf reader whose luckless fate causes her to become a muted memory. Cursed by poor fortune foreseen in the bottom of a tea cup, she resolves to never speak again. It is her story, along with several others that are given voice in “Tasseomancy”. The sisters’ literary tales emit a sense of mesmerizing fantasy and nostalgia, resurrecting the experience of their birth in Sinai and the terror of the Pol Pot Regime in Tear Tassle Ogre Heart. The whimsical melody in Vampires of the West Coast illustrates the sisters’ ability to erect dark inventive landscapes within the mundane. Ghost Bees’ lyrics address the perils of the bleak and frightening and create delicate and chimerical songs that are overwrought with intensity and intuitive harmonies that are eerily unusual and equally as captivating.

The group’s sound has been referred to by critics as an "eclectic brand of spooky folk", with musical comparisons to the hand-spun tales of Joanna Newsom and the emotive harmonies of Diane Cluck. In the formative stages of an anticipated career, Ghost Bees have already embarked upon two cross-Canada tours as well as performances throughout the United States. Recorded and produced by Youth Club Records coordinator, Andy March (Museum Pieces), “Tasseomancy” is the debut album for Ghost Bees, who create their music within the majestic hearth of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Description

Tasseomancy is an introduction to the music of Ghost Bees: twin telepaths Romy and Sari Lightman create a collection of songs imparting tales of past empires and great great ancestry; fabled figures and sorrowful lament, with vocals appendaged together like a two headed balladeer. Tasseomancy begins in the kitchen of The Grandmother in 1904. It is the story of the tea leaf reader whose luckless fate causes her to become a muted memory. Cursed by poor fortune foreseen in the bottom of a tea cup, she resolves to never speak again. It is her story, along with several others that are given voice in Tasseomancy. The sisters’ literary tales emit a sense of mesmerizing fantasy and nostalgia, resurrecting the experience of their birth in Sinai and the terror of the Pol Pot Regime in Tear Tassle Ogre Heart. The whimsical melody in Vampires of the West Coast illustrates
the sisters’ ability to erect dark inventive landscapes within the mundane. Ghost Bees’ lyrics address the perils of the bleak and frightening and create delicate and chimerical songs that are overwrought with intensity and intuitive harmonies that are eerily unusual and equally as captivating.

Album Notes

Featuring the vocal harmonies of Canadian twin sisters Romy and Sari Lightman. Viola by Amber Phelps-Bonderoff. Produced by Andrew March (Museum Pieces).

Recording Location

Halifax, Canada