Review

Aussie synth-poppers look toward the dancefloor on their first LP in four years.
For all their wrangling to stockpile cred in the dance music world, In Ghost Colours still finds Cut Copy leaning heavily on the retro pop style of 2004 debut Bright Like Neon Love.

The flurry of trumpeting synths that announces album-opener "Feel the Love" soon melts into a prominent three-chord acoustic strum, with singer Dan Whitford breathily emoting about "all the clouds [having] silver linings." In a turn that could define the sonic push-and-pull of the album, the song then swivels into an arpeggiated synth stomp, complete with panned vocoder chants. The first third of In Ghost Colours builds on this theme, incorporating dance sounds new n' old (check the 4/4 bass thump and Italo-style clipped keys on "Out There on the Ice" and "Lights & Music"'s cascading, almost-trance synth line). The credible dance production here could be due in large part to the album’s co-producer Tim Goldsworthy, part-owner of white-hot NYC disco-dance label DFA.

Despite the techno dabbling, Cut Copy’s strength still lies in crafting — and adorning — a concise pop hook. “Unforgettable Season” pairs pillowy synth gauze with chiming guitars while (real!) drums gallop through a dreamy Neon Love-like melody from Whitford. Inevitable-single “So Haunted” is the most immediate gut-punch here: a submerged Kevin Shields-ian guitar squall and one-chord piano pound dominate the verses before a soaring chorus that manages to sound both delicate and anthemic. It’s the perfect illustration of Colours’ m.o.: a uniquely thrilling straddle between thumping dance and sparkling pop.