Biography
"Ghost" is a song written, recorded, produced and performed by American DJ and musician Luis Dubuc for his solo project Mystery Skulls. The track was released by Warner Bros. Records as the lead single off the project's debut album Forever described as an electro retro funk track, written, produced and performed by Dubuc, is about him wanting to "disappear completely and start over" after he didn't let anyone know about him moving from Dallas to Los Angeles, as reflected in the song's chorus. The official music video for the track, directed by Josh Thomas, was released in February 2014 by Vice Media's electronic music channel Thump. However, a second, animated music video for the song, which garnered over two million views in less than a month, helped put the track in the top 20 of the American Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs chart. The song was also very well received from music critics.
Warner Bros. Records premiered the final mix of "Ghost" for streaming on December 10, 2013, and the song became available in digital stores by January 31, 2014. A remix by house producer Claude VonStroke was released on February 18, 2014 by Spin magazine, which journalist Chris Martins named a "demented dance-floor delight." A day later, Vice Media's channel Noisey released a remix by New York City-based duo Solidisco, advertised to "make you nostalgic for the long weekend just gone (thanks President's Day!), but super happy because Friday is just a little bit closer than it should be." Both re-workings were part of the song's remix EP that also featured remixes from Fred Falke, Thomas Newson and Viceroy. A re-cut by producer Martignetti that was not on the EP premiered on the blog Stoney Roads, who noted the song to be fitting in an episode of the HBO series Girls. "Ghost" was also included on the soundtrack for the game WWE 2K15, and Dubuc has admitted to being happy of being involved with the game: "I've been a really big fan for a long time, and they found out I was a fan, and it turns out that some of the people that work at WWE and in the game specifically are fans of Mystery Skulls and they were like, "What the (bleep)? This is so cool! Let's do something together!""
"Ghost" received widespread critical acclaim, with many reviewers highlighting its production, melodies, catchiness and Dubuc's vocals. One reviewer from Dance Music Northwest praised the song for putting Dubuc's diverse talent on display. However, a critic who reviewed Forever was more mixed on the song, calling it, along with "When I'm With You", to be "slightly lackluster and boring." The track also did well commercially; it debuted at its peak position of number 15 on the American Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs chart, issue dated November 22, 2014, and landed the on the digital component of that chart in the top 20 the same week. It lasted on the Dance/Electronic chart for eighteen weeks, ending up at number 99 on the chart's 2015 year-end list.