pure xtc (Taylor Hughes) is a multi-instrumentalist living in Kansas City, Missouri.
She got into music at a very young age, receiving a guitar when she was just 5 years old. She took piano lessons in middle school and kept trying different instruments until she found her calling with drums at age 15.
Hughes cites Silversun Pickups and Radiohead as a few of the artists who inspired her to have a go at making music.
After spending some time living in NYC in 2019, Hughes decided to leave the beauty and frustration of the big city.
Her debut single, “Ghost” is about self isolation and self doubt. The song was written around Christmas 2020. She was visiting family, who happened to have plenty of acoustic guitars laying around. She remembers hearing the line “some days I feel like I’m a ghost town” repeating in her head. That was the catalyst for her to sit down and write a song fully on guitar for the first time.
“Ghost” is deeply personal and a great debut, letting you in and trusting the listener as a friend.
Upon first listen, this reminded me of Davey Havok’s side project, Blaqk Audio.
The track straddles the line between industrial rock and electronica.
The overall vibe of “Ghost” is similar to Azure Ray’s “New Resolution”.