Born in 1979 in an industrial town in northern England, Rael grew up among abandoned factories, family folk music, and old records by Talking Heads and Brian Eno. In his teens, he gravitated toward hip-hop, then trip-hop, blending machines, flutes, strings, and samples to craft an uneven yet luminous sonic signature. At 18, he got a 4-track recorder and his first drum machines — the early sketches of Ghostown began to take shape.
Settling in France in 2002, he dropped his original name and adopted Ghostown, a nod to The Specials. He played concerts and small shows around Montpellier before fully dedicating himself to the studio. The album Reflectionz (2008) revealed his taste for gypsy textures, round basses, and raw montages; the track Accordeon even made it to television, used in several ads and videos.
Over the years, he moved from the RM1X to Elektron machines, then transitioned to Logic, which transformed his production approach. From this period emerged Shanksville (2018) and Wuchak (2019), darker albums nourished by fragments accumulated between 2012 and 2018. At the same time, Ghostown delved into visual media: mashups, cinematic montages, animation, photography — an extension of his music into the visual realm.
His journey is also marked by collaborations: Degiheugi, UHT°, Monsieur Grandin, MC Kriké, Smokey Joe, Hubwar, L’Œuf Raide, Wasaru… He also releases instrumentals under the alias Ghostownbeats, including Frozen, composed for a dance-theater show and later featured on a broadcast on W9.
Always moving, Ghostown released Multum in 2024 — featuring Poor Martin — followed in 2025 by Pulling Up the Roses and Sophia. New tracks are in the works, continuing a path of hybrid, free music, crafted far from trends and streaming highways.
