A new song has been released today, as a first single of an upcoming album, recorded and produced at Baby Microbe Recording Studio in London. It’s ghostly, it’s catchy, and it will make you want to giggle and tremble and dance. More info below. Premiere on Houdini Mansions.

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“Tremble Like a Ghost” is the new single by Portuguese avant-pop songstress Rita Braga with a video by renowned animator Martha Colburn.

“Tremble Like a Ghost” is a dangerous and quirky earworm that will stay with you longer than its 3:33 minute duration. The juicy lyrics, which reference specific key dates and events that took place over the last 100 years (starting with Pickwick Club’s collapse in 1925), may leave room for interpretation for a niche audience who likes to decipher riddles – or you might just want to stomp your feet and snap your fingers along with it. The unorthodox line-up of instruments consists of violin (played by Galina Juritz), a primitive drum machine as used by the likes of Suicide or Wall of Voodoo, organ and bass. The video’s raw visuals, which combine animation and live footage of Rita and guests appearing as ghostly characters, are a surrealistic assemblage which evoke 1920’s and 30’s cartoons (think of Disney’s Skeleton Dance or Betty Boop cartoons featuring Cab Calloway), traditional Japanese style makeup and the early cinematic experiments of George Méliès.