The most electrifying album of 2025: Venturing’s “Ghostholding”

Graphic by Mateo Krygowski

by Mateo Krygowski

As the light left her eyes for the very last time, she cried up and out into the frozen air, killing the silent landscape as the sun made its familiar and readily prepared ascent. The valley was the last to hear her presence, buried at the end of time. Enclosed in the hearts of many, Jane removes what once resided prominently in her soul and presents a newly bruised and sought after vision. One that shapeshifts with each listen, warping into a stunning effort, clunky and everlasting in its nature. Ghostholding is the most fearless and heart wrenching album of 2025 so far, making it the best. 

Jane begins by playing her guitar, sunken in knowing that her love will never return. Even if her confessions reach his ears, neither of them will give in, holding onto a moment that was once pure and forever true. Jane Remover (venturing) is no stranger to devastation. Her miraculous 2023 album Census Designated is a perilous capture of her intensely moving world view. Glitched out and incredibly loud, screaming crystal clear into the unknown. That abandoned heart of a house in the middle of nowhere burnt down long ago, left to be swept away by the dry winds of autumn. Hoping for an answer to reply with a smile, though in return, a faceless ghost comes forth. A year has elapsed since then, now we are left with Ghostholding, Jane’s third LP. A lengthy letter of regret, but more so a dedicated submission of acceptance. Acknowledging the months of love that no longer fill in the moments of now. 

Ghostholding is rather stripped back compared to her previous projects, and very distant when positioned next to her prolific 2021 project, Frailty. The album mainly consists of guitar, bass, drums and Jane’s exhausted yet determined voice, crying out across the soundscape of a memory that has played too many times over in her mind. It isn’t the same memory anymore: poison soaked and beautiful in its worn out form. Similar to a piece of clothing that no longer holds its shape like it used to. The tears and laughs of its user now play a part in its fabric. Ignited once the first chord is struck, falling into a daydream of a rhythm, unique to Jane and the sound of indie rock today. All of these elements are prominently shown within the first moments of the album, Jane reminisces over what could have been and what is currently happening to her tired and vague relationship with her lover:

“I don't want something to happen to you/

Still, I wanna give you my all.

I can't help but put my hands onto you/

Treat you like a superstar.

I got a feeling you're gonna go/

I got a feeling you're gonna go/

I got a feeling you're gonna go, oh-oh.”

- Track 1, “Play my guitar”

Even though these devoted lyrics seem to linger on forever, Jane changes her tone five songs deep into the project, and then two times more until the album's conclusion. Recognizing that she can’t stay made for the rest of her young life, there are too many evergreen moments out there ready to be felt, though that shattered feeling remains no matter what. On the track “Something has to change,” she disposes of her attachment with the love she once had from herself and recognizes the absurdity of it all: 

“And I'd pay so much money just to be her for thе night/

I shed tears, everything I do is for a boy.

Please, God, save me, I just wanna party.” 

Everything I do is for a boy, ripped up and inward. This lyric in particular holds the core of the album itself. Ghostholding is a fiercely outward and undeniably queer document,unapologetic in its display. Highlighting some of the most intimate moments one can witness in their twenties, effortlessly written and endlessly questioned. Jane’s writing and overall delivery as a singer and songwriter is what makes the album so damn strong, not to exclude the production that pairs so well with what she is admitting to her listeners. There is a deep sense of clearness in what she sings that makes each song on the album infinite and gratifying. They all hold so much weight, so much so that it can easily be too overwhelming, though the amount of love that cements the album together overrides these negative factors. Easing her listeners into a wonderful collection of empowering ballads that are ultimately addictive. 

By the final act, Jane has once again worn out her original daydream, submitting to the reality of her situation. “Sister” is a stellar capture of the severity of her defeat, one that wraps up the album in such a contused manner. Leading the addiction to persist, keeping us close and starting up from the very beginning, one more time: 

“I tell my boyfriend, ‘Nothing in the world can bring me back to life’/

I'd do anything to feel it for the first time.

And I feel like the angels pulled a joke on me, they laugh and turn their backs/

They leave the club and set the place on fire.

I couldn't make it out there fast enough/

The girls, they tell me I'm all out of love.”

These final lines from Jane prove how much she truly cares, to be loved and love someone for who they really are, and how they see the world and care about life itself. To be ruined is momentarily a precious thing and Jane encapsulates the importance of these huge emotions through her side project, venturing. To remove herself literally from her main project, Jane Remover. It's hard to dismiss that this is an artist that has soared ever since her first album and continues to go beyond on Ghostholding. 

This will define my entire year.

It already means so much.

I love it all.