School of Seven Bells - Ghostory

School of Seven Bells' guitarist Benjamin Curtis (who also stands in as producer on this recording) has described the now duo's third studio LP Ghostory as "their most collaborative music to date...more sensual and spontaneous than anything [they have] ever done before". The first release following the departure of Claudia Deheza last year, there is a noticeable departure from the once heavenly dual harmonisations that featured on Alpinisms and Disconnect from Desire. However a man (or rather woman) down, it's hard to discern whether the transition to a more heavily electronic and '80s inspired sound was already in the pipeline, or was a direct result of losing a strong vocalist.

Presented as a concept album, Ghostory employs the traditions School Of Seven Bells built themselves upon, from delicate harmonies to all of their shoegaze and dream pop influences, reverbed and cyclical guitar patterns and blissful melodies, this time placing Lafaye, the girl character who reminisces on love, loss and betrayal, at the centre of it all.

The current single of the same name ('Lafaye') pulses with a heavy beat at its centre, but is held up by the remaining sister, Alejandra Deheza's flawless vocals, and also finds itself as a reference point for the disparate elements School Of Seven Bells couple together here. In many ways it is an album of opposites: repetative drum and synth patterns coupled with ethereal vocals, almost dreamlike compared to the thud down to earth of the pulsing beats Curtis produces. In 'Low Times' the duo seem to trade in all that made them original in their beginnings, and one can't help but feel slightly short changed for some of the transformations they've made, especially at a time when the music scene is so abundant in electro-pop.

That said, Deheza's lyricisms behind the alternative dancefloor beats is full of more weighted ruminations and less cliched observations than many of her peers. 'Reappear''s more ambient and less structurally formulaic approach takes the pace down a notch or two and the droning, spacy synths uphold a beauteous haze around the equally beautiful and crystaline female vocals. Certainly it's a record that for older fans of the trio turned duo will take a while to click, but after repeated listens its layers start to reveal themselves. Ghostory is by no means a slow burner, infact it is rather immediate, which is probably why for some they will be ready to doubt the impulsive immediacy of the beats it builds itself from.