ARTIST · INDIE / FOLK

Cherry Ghost

Lyric-forward songs dressed in reverb tails—Northern eloquence with a cinematic ache.

Indie folk
Alternative rock

Updated 27 October 2026

Biography

Simon Aldred launched Cherry Ghost after years of writing concise vignettes about small-town longing and midnight honesty.

Arrangements lean folk without fearing electricity; pedal steel, keys, and careful guitar beds frame vocals that stay intimate in the mix.

Stations that programme modern British songwriting often slot Cherry Ghost beside acoustic innovators who still think in songcraft.

Lossless playback keeps vocal breath and room tone intact—critical for this kind of hushed dynamism.

Cherry Ghost is the project of songwriter Simon Aldred, who built it with a changing group of musicians around his warm baritone. Thirst for Romance (2007) introduced his bittersweet ballads and brass-tinged arrangements, and its songs sat at the intersection of folk, soul, and indie rock.

People Help the People, written by Aldred, has become best known through Birdy’s version, which brought it to a younger audience. A second Cherry Ghost album, Beneath This Burning Shoreline, followed in 2010.

Interesting facts about Cherry Ghost

01 Musical project led by English singer-songwriter Simon Aldred, associated with Bolton.
02 Debut album Thirst for Romance (2007) entered the UK Albums Chart at number seven.
03 Simon Aldred wrote People Help the People, later widely known from Birdy’s cover version.
04 A second album, Beneath This Burning Shoreline, appeared in 2010.
05 People Help the People became a hit again in Birdy’s version.