There is no reason for Ghostwoman’s fourth album to exist. Welcome to the Civilized World (5th September 2025) is born to a broken world; a corrupt inheritance – Evan Uschenko and Ille van Dessel are under no illusions about its futility – and yet, this thing is alive. It’s an allergic reaction to the times we are living in: a welt that screams to be itched, the purging of a modern sickness they could no longer stomach. Beyond rationality, this record came from a place of gut feeling and a lack of any other option. Hell may have cracked wide open – but Ghostwoman will not go quietly.

Ghostwoman itself only exists because Uschenko and van Dessel were the ones “stupid enough to commit to it”. Conceived by Uschenko after cutting his teeth as a touring multi-instrumentalist, the project was brought to life in an abandoned farmhouse in Diamond City, Alberta. There, for two months, he would make the self-released, self-titled debut album which was produced and dubbed directly to custom-made cassette tapes. The music has always been beautifully inhospitable, earned only by those curious enough to seek it out.

Expanded by friends on the Edmonton circuit, Uschenko took the project over the pond where he would meet drummer Ille van Dessel. Drawn to her talent and sheer excitement to make music which had been untouched by ego or cynicism, the two became inseparable. A new life had begun.

And then there were two. Ghostwoman became a head-on collision between the switchblade rust of his guitars and her caustic drum beats which march them on toward a shared oblivion. Welcome to the Civilized World is an album to be a pure distillation of their shared vision. From its earliest sketch to its final form, the only people to touch it were Ghostwoman themselves.

Musically, Ghostwoman are a sharper beast than ever: hypnotic spells of psych-grunge, decaying Americana and instrumental locked-horns. The band’s process is intuitive rather than calculated; sounds are made in a chain reaction to one another - filthy guitars and snarling, livewire vocals, driving beats.

Welcome to the Civilized World is not concerned with making music for an audience, not for the music industry and not for any particular point other than the thrill of it. Nothing matters, we are all doomed, the sun will swallow the earth and our efforts turn to dust anyway. The band will continue to play as the ship goes down.