Post-rock band from Phoenix, Arizona, Ghost Island seeks to relive your most ecstatic bliss just before confronting your most impenetrable fears. The band’s music makes you feel far from home while offering a comforting solace that comes from within.

John conceived the concept of Assimilation after a failed suicide attempt following the end of a nearly four-year relationship. With the help of Roddy and Michael, the songs became expressive tales taking the listener through the range of emotions that comes with entering and exiting a relationship for a person with clinical depression. Rather than any spoken word, the song titles themselves offer a glimpse into the mindset of the performers, allowing listeners to interpret the music however they see fit. Ultimately, the album concludes on a positive note, asserting that it is okay to be different and okay to assimilate into your environment in order to get the human interaction we all need in order to function. Like the previous release, Destroyer, Assimilation was recorded entirely in house by John, who also handled mixing duties as well as art direction.

“Like it was stated, the entire album was conceptualized after some massive heartbreak on my end, and I wanted to push out those emotions I felt, when I looked back on my long relationship, as a form of closure. I wanted to put that chapter behind me, and felt that I did an excellent job doing it. With the help of both Roddy and Michael I was able to achieve something I firmly believe will be a point of pride not only of my own opinion, but that of all the band members.”

Merchants of Air, Review:

“A calm, lucid, quiet and very modest post-rock album, Assimilation can be considered a minor masterpiece, specially taking into consideration its precise and detailed technicality. Although excessively calm throughout its whole ordeal, there’s a singular vitality within the music, and it’s impossible to be indifferent to it. With complex arrangements and conscious, abundant and methodic melodies, Assimilation is an interesting album, that really evaluates and inserts into a more embracing panorama the sonorous devices of the genre, over a mixture of traditional devotion and modest originality.

CannedSound, Review:

“The title track breathes like a cool winter breeze. Don’t be mistaken, the song still has its punishing moments, but there’s a hopefulness that didn’t exist before; a hopefulness that was hard-won."