In Ghost Colours [CD]

Bright Like Neon Love came out 4 years ago and was an excellent debut album from this Aussie electro indie band. I liked it a lot, but couldn't helped thinking when listening to it, that it was on the cusp of something grand, where maybe not even the band realized how close they were to pushing up and over that edge. Album co-producer and LCD Soundsystem member Tim Goldsworthy may have been just the extra touch they needed to push this exciting band to the upper realms of electronic indie land.

The songs really tighten up and there are a lot more lyrics and vocal tracks than their debut LP. It also clocks in at over 50 minutes, while Bright Like Neon Love was under 43 minutes. Gone are some of the elongated electro instrumentation with a few strips of interlaced vocals found on Bright Like Neon Love. These songs are much more pop aligned, and judging by the strength of some of them, enough to extend their listening audience to an even broader range.

There's a treasure trove of catchy tunes, including the opener, Feel The Love, the progressive rocker So Haunted, and the unexpected leftfield turn when the chorus kicks in during Lights and Music. 80's backing electronica is again the theme, especially on Far Away, where you could have placed it onto any new wave, synth-pop album between 1984 and 1987 and no one would have even noticed. The dreamy interludes are a nice touch, as they glide and connect us through 15 tracks without a bad hitch at any of the stops along the way.

Harmonious from top to bottom and very well produced, this 2nd album is one of the best examples of how talented, non-mainstream, electronic artists can really be. I wish the band much success, and let this highly recommended album do the rest.

This album took a fair few listens to reveal its indie-dance delights in all their glory, but be patient because it is well worth the effort. The pop gem Lights and Music is for me the stand-out track, along with Hearts on Fire, and at first I mourned the passing of these songs as I feared nothing would be able to match their genius. I was wrong - there is not a duff track here, the songs segue into each other with dreamy mood pieces, swooning guitars and bubbling electronica and make for a nightmare on iPod shuffle but hey, this album rewards you if you listen to it as an entire experience from start to finish. It's a classic case of the "grower".

Album opener Feel the Love is all strummed guitars and echoing vocals, a little too generous on the ooh-oohs but this can be forgiven when Dan murmurs "Hey you" in that warm 80s croon, and then a falsetto vocoder comes in with a beautifully catchy melody, which sounds brilliant - and I am not usually a big fan of distorted vocals. Next track Out There on the Ice has a keyboard sound that I'd swear was straight out of Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode. It's bittersweet brilliance and all the textures come together with the sound of an appreciative crowd as the song reaches its peak.

Now, I need to explain just how much Lights and Music means to me. I was a child in the 80s, and an adolescent in the early 90s, and this song makes my heart swell with joy, it really does. Lush synths, a juicy, urgently driving bassline and Dan's happy-sad warm tenor - trust me, it really is honey for the ears. It builds to a euphoric climax with simplistic lyrics that somehow take on a new and deeper meaning because of the power of the music.

The first time I heard this song I was recovering from a serious illness, and it made me feel so glad to be alive, so grateful, and I honestly felt like a child again. I don't know if you need to be in your 30s to actually "get" this song. It takes me on a magical nostalgic journey through the most blissful pop music of the 80s and yet it sounds like it was made in the 21st century, which of course, it was. Cut Copy are no 80s parody and can simply PASTE the rest with their genius and hooky pop sensibility. It's heartbreakingly good, it puts a huge grin on my face and a misty tear in my eye all at the same time. It is, quite simply, perfect. Oh, and did I mention it has a damn good groove?

Unforgettable Season is actually quite noisy with walls of guitars chiming away and an almost Robert Smith-like vocal - it's pure indie, not dance, at this point, again proving Cut Copy would be just as good as a guitar band. There are more noisy guitars on So Haunted, but the melodies are pop to the core.

As Hearts on Fire begins, you just KNOW the song is going to be a monster, it simply bristles with tension even before the bass drum kicks in. If I have to make any criticism, it is that the lyrics are repetitive, but this is as close as it gets to the joys of Lights and Music. Hearts on Fire is a wonderful song and the little riff at the end is a cheeky homage to New Order that fits brilliantly. I also love the female vocal sample on this, it really takes me back! They have updated the music of the past effortlessly to make it sound new and exciting.

Other standouts for me include Strangers in the Wind, and Nobody Lost, Nobody Found - the latter has another sumptuous bassline. So, to sum up, if you like dance music, buy it. If you like pop music, buy it. If you like indie music, buy it. Even if you hate most of it, there is always Lights and Music. My life is better for having that song in it, and I wouldn't want anyone else to miss out on it.

I recently bought this CD on the strength of the reviews on Amazon and having heard the songs via preview. I really like this CD, whilst it is not offering anything that new, I really connected with the 80s retro sound and creative use of synth and guitar sounds. I suppose any review is subjective, but for anyone that enjoys solid 80s synth pop this is a must buy.