Former Ghosts / New Love

Former Ghosts
New Love
(Upset The Rhythm)

Headlines (and indeed, first lines of reviews) will inevitably be taken up with the fact that Nika Roza Danilova, AKA Zola Jesus, features on this album. However the real news is that Xiu Xiu frontman Jamie Stewart has created an intriguing second album under his guise as Former Ghosts.
‘New Love’ is full of the kind of electronic textures which make you uneasy and alert in equal measure. When such beats and synths combine and clash, it can feel perplexing - more often than not however, the song craft soon reels you back in with a subtle hook or two.
Songs like ‘And When You Kiss Me’ and ‘Until You Are Alone Again’ are sprinkled with more traditional synth-pop touches amongst all the darkness and apprehension, while ‘Taurean Nature’ is a great example of what Interpol might sound like if they approached gothtronica full on.
As for Jesus, she contributes to one of the album’s true highlights, with ‘Chin Up’ fully representative of the blood-curdling, vocal drama of which she is so famously capable. This album won’t be for everyone, but fans of warped, skewed beats and dark-as-the-night atmospherics might just find their new love.