Written by: Dave Cantrell

While we’ve encountered them previously and more than once, Dan Cuddy’s fabulous, always fulfilling pop project The Special Pillow nonetheless insists on coming back to haunt us, and in the case almost literally. As the man himself explains below, there’s been no lack of ghostly goings-on in the band’s world over the years and that presence of the mysterious ‘other’ hasn’t merely persevered but, if the current album is any indication, has moved in roommate-style into the TSP psyche, albeit – and not inappropriately – like one of those roommates you almost never see but whose presence is eerily indicated by the whoosh of a shadow down at the end of the hall, by the unwashed dishes that weren’t there a minute ago, by the sound of the shower going even as the next person in there finds it dry. But the thing here is, while that may be unsettling to most of us, to Cuddy and his collaborators it’s rather cause for celebration, which in their case never fails to mean dragging the wraith in to the studio and, more or less, serenading it with a new song they’ve just created just for their slippery visitor. The results of this process have never been anything less than superb, sublime even, and The Special Pillow Meets the Space Monster is no exception, as proven beyond the, umm, shadow of doubt once you click the link below. Between reading here and going there, however, we strongly suggest a quick scan just below to ready you for what’s to come. Context is king, after all, not least with an entity as solid as The Special Pillow, an especially notable quality of theirs given their penchant for hosting the virtually invisible. Take it away Mr. Cuddy…

“Many of us have experienced memories, scenarios, and paradigms in our lives that linger on well past their sell-by date. Conversations and even arguments with entities that will never hear one’s perspective and may not even exist.

The Special Pillow’s repertoire has been rife with paranormal investigation from the get-go. One side of our 7-inch vinyl debut (on Really Fast Racecar Records) was “Paranormal,” and we went on to unleash “Please Come to Our Séance” and “Ghosts Are Real” upon a ghost-crazed public. “Give Up the Ghost” is the latest and possibly greatest entry in this select (and admittedly sub-sub-sub) genre. Katie Gentile and Debby Schwartz welcome us into the netherworld in vocal tandem, Eric Marc Cohen displays a downright uncanny sense of multiversal pulsations, Peter Stuart has a guitar battle with himself and wins, and yours truly (Dan Cuddy) dramatically intones the title of the song and deeply appreciates his collaborators in this occult endeavor.”