Photo: Tim Bies
Warren Defever’s cherished and long-standing ethereal darkwave project, His Name Is Alive, has a storied history with 4AD. To honor the band’s early works, 4AD proudly presents a strictly limited deluxe 6xLP, 77-track box set titled How Ghosts Affect Relationships: 1990-1993. This collector’s item, available September 27, is exclusive to the 4AD webstore and Bandcamp.
This must-have collection brings together the first three His Name Is Alive albums—Livonia, Home Is In Your Head, and Mouth By Mouth.
From Livonia, Michigan, His Name Is Alive emerged as Defever’s brainchild. In the early ’90s, with vocalist Karin Oliver, they became a key part of 4AD’s lore after founder Ivo Watts-Russell was drawn to their dark, fragmented sound. Their self-released cassettes kept landing in his mailbox, each one better than the last, until he couldn’t ignore them anymore. Recently, their early tracks were reissued in the acclaimed A Silver Thread trilogy. Now, the spotlight shifts to their first three albums. Signed to 4AD in 1989, amid the rise of Throwing Muses, Pixies, and The Breeders, they fit perfectly. Their sound, echoing the gothic tones of Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance, possessed a unique quality, existing on the edge of reality and a subterranean realm. This otherness sparked curiosity and anchored their unpredictable, ever-changing sound.
Their debut album, Livonia, hit the scene in the summer of 1990 like a broken jigsaw puzzle. Produced by Ivo and his This Mortal Coil collaborator John Fryer, they took Warren’s recordings, disassembled them, and left them wonderfully fractured.
“They took it apart, and didn’t put it back together,” Fryer commented.
On the surface, their signing fit with the label’s ethereal lineage. But as listeners peeled away the layers, they found the 4AD sound had been reinvented, refracted through a prism. The album revealed a disturbing yet exquisite vista, a shadowy study in love and loss, delivered in a woozy, dreamlike fashion. When reissued in the US, the title track—an intense study in guitar distortion—was added, cementing it as one of the band’s finest moments.
In 1991, their second album, Home Is In Your Head, hit the streets. Recorded in Defever’s home studio and then remixed by Ivo and John, its 23 tracks fired emotions with rapid intensity. Calm moments clashed with white noise and chaos, leaving listeners enthralled by its beauty and darkness. Warren’s unique production style proved to be unmatched. Fully in their stride, they released The Dirt Eaters EP in 1992, leaning more on folk than avant-pop, even daring to include uncleared samples from Hollywood films. The result was a sound that was both bold and boundary-breaking, standing apart from anything else.
Pulled from the original analogue tapes and meticulously remastered by Defever himself at Third Man Mastering, it also includes three additional LPs packed with bonus material and unreleased tracks, like The Dirt Eaters EP. Accompanying this treasure trove is a 36-page book penned by 4AD biographer Martin Aston, laying out the gripping tale of His Name Is Alive’s early days.
It also features never-before-seen photos and memorabilia, along with written pieces from Ivo Watts-Russell, Johnny Jewel, and others.
This limited edition collection, capped at 1,000 foil-stamped and numbered copies, comes in a hard slipcase box with a design by Chris Bigg, reimagined from Vaughan Oliver/v23’s original art direction. The box also includes a replica of each album’s original promotional poster and a signed print. It’s a meticulously crafted tribute to His Name Is Alive’s early days, celebrating the band’s legacy with a nod to its iconic visual style.
Pre-order and find more information on the release here.
For a clearer idea of the wondrous offerings, watch the product video below:
Additionally, the 4AD YouTube channel is also hosting hi-res versions of two Quay Brothers-directed music videos, Are We Still Married? and Can’t Go Wrong Without You.
Watch below:
In celebration of the upcoming boxset, His Name Is Alive will also embark on a brief US headline tour, set to begin in September. Find more information and tickets below.
TOUR DATES
Follow His Name Is Alive:
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