“I needed to cleanse my soul from stupidity”: Tobias Forge “shied away” from the media when writing new Ghost album Skeletá

Tobias Forge says he “shied away” from consuming media while writing Ghost’s upcoming album, Skeletá.

During a new video interview with Rolling Stone UK, the Swedish singer/multi-instrumentalist, who performs onstage as Ghost’s masked “Papa” frontman, says he’s been on a total “media blackout” since November 2024.

He adds that, although Skeletá was already composed by that point, he also distanced himself from the news and social media while writing the album, hoping to distance it from the political themes of 2022 predecessor Impera.

“There’s a misconception that I wrote the record [Skeletá] during my media blackout – that is not true,” he says. “But I did, however, shy away from the immediate media.”

He goes on to talk about his ongoing blackout, which he started “to cleanse my soul from stupidity”.

The frontman elaborates: “[I needed to] focus on what my role is as a human and what my job is. My job as an entertainer is to make as many people happy and motivated and joyous as possible. And my job as a husband and father is to take good care of my children and my family.”

He adds that “bury[ing]” himself in the “dead end” that is social media ran counter to those goals.

“Social media has led a lot of people to believe that they can magically change the world,” he explains. “Even though social media has done tremendous good for a lot of people, especially when it comes to structural change, it also has given a lot of people the false hope that their voice actually matters no matter what. If they can’t use that voice, and it’s not heard, it’s like a right that’s been taken away from them.”

Forge’s seeming dislike for modern technology will play into Ghost’s 2025 world tour, which started on Tuesday (April 15) in Manchester, UK. The six-month run of shows is phone-free, with attendees needing to place their mobile phones in magnetically sealed pouches as they enter the venue.

During a recent conversation with Planet Rock, Forge explained that he wants attendees to live in the moment rather than focus on filming parts of the show. He also said that he banned phones after needing to do so at two Los Angeles concerts in 2023, during which Ghost filmed last year’s movie Rite Here Rite Now, and enjoying the experience.

“I don’t wanna turn this into an ageist thing where I’m gonna tell 14-year-olds everything was better back then,” he said (via Blabbermouth). “But I swear that the experience of shows and the making of memories, the making of magic, was much more powerful [at the phone-free Los Angeles concerts].

“Some of the best shows I’ve ever been to, I have maybe not even seen a picture from that because they all live here [in my head]. They live in my core. That’s the memory I have of that. And that is an experience I wish for.”

Skeletá will come out on April 25 via Loma Vista. Ghost are on the cover of the new issue of Metal Hammer, which contains an in-depth interview with Forge about the new album and Ghost’s ‘new’ frontman, Papa V Perpetua. Order it now in a bundle that also includes an exclusive Skeletá vinyl variant.