Maddox Jones has been building quietly and consistently since his debut EP ‘Headspace’ hit #4 on the iTunes Singer-Songwriter chart back in 2020. Before going solo, he’d already lived a full first act with The Departure – four Top 40 hits, Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds, sharing stages with The Killers and Placebo. The solo chapter has been no less busy, with a #1 on the Music Week Black Music Club Chart and a stint supporting Will Young on tour. “No More Ghosts” was released on January 29th and marks his first new music since the release of his second album, “Waiting for the World to Turn.” It’s a reimagining of the closing track from ‘Headspace’ – six years on, rebuilt from the ground up.
The production quality here is great, and the song has that pop polish that’s hard to fake. The original was a stripped-back ballad, and this version swaps that out for pulsing synths and a dance-leaning synthpop arrangement that actually suits the song’s emotional arc better than you’d expect. The various sonic elements of the song come together to create an atmosphere that’s more than the sum of its parts, and it’s what carries the song.
The arrangement brings the emotional center of the song front and center rather than burying it under the new production sheen. The hooks land cleanly, and there’s a real sense of lightness to it that the 2020 version didn’t have. It sounds like someone who’s made peace with something. With a European tour supporting Tyler Hilton and Katie Voegele coming in April, “No More Ghosts” feels like the right way to open a new chapter.