Love Ghost Confronts the Past and Finds a Voice for the Outsider on Upcoming Album Thirteen

Some memories never really leave us. They follow us through different stages of life, quietly influencing how we see ourselves, how we connect with others, and where we believe we belong. For some, growing up means eventually making peace with those experiences. For others, it means finding the courage to revisit the moments that once made them feel broken, misunderstood, or completely alone. For Love Ghost, that journey becomes deeply personal on the band’s upcoming album, Thirteen, arriving November 13.

Pre-save/pre-order Thirteen, the forthcoming album from Love Ghost, now here.

Described as the most vulnerable record he has ever made, Thirteen takes its name from a particularly defining period in Finnegan’s life. At thirteen, he was expelled from school, an experience that left him questioning his identity and struggling with the feeling that he didn’t belong. What could have remained a collection of painful memories has instead become the foundation for a record centered on self-discovery, generational trauma, isolation, and the complicated process of learning to accept yourself.

In our conversation with Finnegan, he opens up about revisiting the experiences that shaped his younger years, confronting memories he once wanted to bury, and discovering how those experiences continue to influence the person he is today. Rather than simply looking backward, Thirteen becomes an opportunity to give his younger self something he didn’t have at the time: a voice.

Reflecting on how adulthood changed his understanding of those formative experiences, Finnegan explains that being thirteen meant having little perspective on why he felt different. Being expelled from school made him feel as though the world had already decided who he was before he had the opportunity to figure that out for himself. However, revisiting those memories as an adult allowed him to recognize that the labels placed on us don’t necessarily have to define us.

“As an adult, I know that the world throws labels at you wherever it can, but it’s your decision to view it as an attack or wear it as a badge of armor,” he shares.

That realization sits at the heart of Thirteen. Finnegan wasn’t simply reopening old wounds for the sake of revisiting them. He was finally giving that younger version of himself an opportunity to be heard. The process became one of understanding, forgiveness, and recognizing that the thirteen-year-old who once felt completely alone wasn’t as isolated as he believed, but getting to that point required confronting memories he had spent years avoiding. Finnegan admits that he eventually became tired of pretending those experiences hadn’t affected him. For a long time, he carried that hurt privately without fully understanding how much it had influenced the person he became. Writing the album meant opening doors he had kept locked, even when sharing those experiences felt uncomfortable.

“If I’m asking people to connect with my music, I have to be willing to show them the parts of me that aren’t easy to explain,” he says.

One of the most striking aspects of our conversation is Finnegan’s willingness to speak about what it actually means to feel misunderstood at such a young age. When asked what he wishes people had understood about him at thirteen, his response carried a particular weight. He recalls feeling misunderstood and wishes people had recognized that he wasn’t insane or a psychopath, but rather someone who was struggling and didn’t know how to communicate what he was experiencing. It’s a powerful reflection, especially considering the number of young people who experience similar feelings without having the language, support, or understanding to explain what is happening internally. For Finnegan, answering that question also comes with a sense of responsibility toward the next thirteen-year-old who feels like an outsider.

That connection to outsiders has always been central to Love Ghost’s identity. However, Finnegan’s understanding of what it means to stand outside the crowd has evolved over time. He believes the original feeling never completely disappears; it simply takes on different forms as life introduces new circumstances and challenges.

“The outsider never really disappears. He just learns how to dress himself differently,” he explains.

It’s an idea that captures much of what makes Thirteen so personal. The circumstances may change, but the underlying struggle to find acceptance can remain. Finnegan also challenges the idea that belonging necessarily means being accepted by everyone else. Sometimes, it means recognizing that the world you’ve been given doesn’t fit and finding the courage to build something of your own. That perspective carries into the album’s individual tracks, each exploring different emotional corners of his experiences.

On “Into The Woods,” Finnegan uses the imagery of entering the woods as a metaphor for confronting the unknown and revisiting parts of his past that he would rather leave behind. There’s a sense of vulnerability in willingly returning to the darkness, but also a sense of strength in recognizing that he is no longer the same person who once became lost there. What was once something he had no control over has become something he can choose to face.

“Something In The Water” takes a different direction, exploring generational trauma and the ways emotional wounds can be passed down through families. Finnegan reflects on how people inherit more than physical characteristics or family names. They can also inherit behaviors, patterns, and pain from people who were struggling long before they arrived. Sometimes, what we spend years believing is wrong with ourselves is actually connected to something that began generations earlier. Recognizing those patterns is difficult, but it can also be the first step toward breaking them.

The darker symbolism continues with “Church For A Vampire,” a title that brings together two seemingly opposing images: a place traditionally associated with salvation and a creature often associated with darkness. For Finnegan, the vampire represents someone who feels fundamentally different from everyone else but still desperately wants somewhere to belong. He explores the contradiction of searching for acceptance in environments that may ultimately cause more harm than good. It’s an uncomfortable reality that many people can recognize: sometimes, the desire to be wanted becomes so powerful that we mistake it for being loved.

“Sometimes we mistake being wanted for being loved, and those are two very different things,” he reflects.

It’s one of the album’s most compelling emotional ideas, particularly when viewed alongside its larger themes of isolation and identity. On “Pointless,” Finnegan takes a more direct approach to documenting the emotional weight of feeling disconnected from the world. Rather than attempting to provide an uplifting resolution or pretending to have all the answers, he wanted to capture the mindset honestly. He describes it as an honest reveal of how he felt at that particular moment, allowing the listener to sit with the discomfort rather than immediately escaping it.

His perspective on music’s ability to provide comfort is especially meaningful. He recognizes that music doesn’t always have to offer solutions. Sometimes, its greatest purpose is simply to sit with someone in the darkness long enough for them to realize they aren’t the only ones experiencing it. Although Thirteen features thirteen songs connected by deeply personal experiences, Finnegan explains that the album’s narrative wasn’t necessarily mapped out from the beginning. He entered the writing process knowing he wanted something emotional and honest, drawing inspiration from Midwest grunge and what he describes as a forgotten American dream. As the material came together, the larger storyline began revealing itself naturally.

One track that took on additional meaning within the completed record was “Pasadena.” Finnegan explains that the song brings him back to a version of himself he spent years trying to outrun. He once believed that leaving certain memories behind and changing his surroundings would eventually stop them from affecting him. Instead, he discovered that emotional pain doesn’t necessarily disappear just because our circumstances change. Looking back, he can recognize how those early experiences influenced the way he viewed himself and the people around him. Even more difficult was realizing that some of the things he resented growing up were things he eventually had to confront within himself.

That realization speaks to one of the most complicated parts of personal growth: understanding that our past doesn’t simply exist behind us. Sometimes, it continues to influence our decisions, relationships, and perceptions in ways we don’t immediately recognize. Ultimately, Finnegan isn’t presenting Thirteen as a record about having everything figured out. It’s about being willing to look at the parts of yourself you’ve spent years avoiding and accepting that healing doesn’t always come with a neat conclusion. Some experiences leave lasting marks, but those marks don’t have to determine the rest of your story.

What makes this conversation particularly powerful is the way Finnegan connects his own experiences to something much larger than himself. Although the album originates from a very specific chapter of his life, its themes reach anyone who has ever felt misunderstood, struggled to communicate their emotions, inherited pain they didn’t know how to process, or searched for acceptance in places that never truly made room for them. With Thirteen arriving November 13, Love Ghost is preparing to share what may be its most emotionally exposed body of work yet. For Finnegan, the album represents more than revisiting the past. It’s about finally understanding the person he was, acknowledging the experiences that shaped him, and refusing to let the labels placed on him dictate who he becomes. Sometimes, the most difficult journey isn’t finding out who you are. It’s going back to the person you once were and finally giving them the understanding they deserved.

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