CD - Cut Copy: IN GHOST COLOURS

Picture yourself inside a high-ceilinged, slightly dilapidated warehouse somewhere. All of a sudden, the lights hanging above you flick off with an echoing snap, and you’re plunged into darkness. There’s a brief pause before there’s another snap, and abruptly you’re surrounded by flickering, humming neon lights. Now picture that it’s 1985.

 If you have no idea what Aussie electronic-pop outfit Cut Copy sound like, just imagine the music that would pump through the warehouse next and you’ll get close. In their 2004 debut, Bright Like Neon Love, front man Dan Whitford demonstrated an undeniable energy and effortless understanding of the genre pioneered by New Order and then made cool all over again by Daft Punk and Air.  In the four years since, Cut Copy spent some time in New York with DFA’s Tim Goldsworthy further expanding upon this sound, with In Ghost Colours the bangle-wearing baby spat out the other side.

 And what a healthy birth. Although In Ghost Colours is still firmly rooted in the formula that made Cut Copy’s first album so charming – Whitford’s faraway voice chanting out hooks punctuated by thumping beats and held together by synthesiser melodies – it also manages to build on this idea, resulting in an album that sounds incredibly lush and massive even when it’s pumped through your tinniest tape deck.

 It’s an album that presents an odd but successful fusion: both full of energy yet at the same time drifting and loose – think of In Ghost Colours like a shy kid who loves to dance. The pulsating “Lights and Music” could well be the sequel to Bright Like Neon Love’s party-starter “Saturdays”, while opener “Feel the Love” is like a space-man pulled out his tinfoil guitar and started hammering out a version of My Bloody Valentine’s shoegaze classic Loveless. And only some sort of stone-creature wouldn’t feel their foot unconsciously tapping away to the dreamy synth solo that breaks in half “Nobody Lost, Nobody Found”. 

In Ghost Colours is the soundtrack for the party, the after party, and the drive home the next morning. Just remember to leave those happy pants at the warehouse.