Cut///Copy - In Ghost Colours
Recalling with kitsch enthusiasm the faded glory of late twentieth century guitar and disco pop, In Ghost Colours is a delightfully crafted monster. With the relish of a car designer test driving his finished model, they have strung their sound together from spheres inhabited by the likes of New Order, the Las and Interpol. It is hard to imagine a better engineered conjunction of influences, even if I had chosen them myself.
One major design fault with the album was the occasional glitch in the music as the continuous sound passed onto a new track. Whether this was a production fault or a deliberate ingredient • in order to tie in with the whole “Cut///Copy” theme • is hard to say, but it breaks up an essentially pleasant sound in an aesthetically damaging way.
The Sound of Cut///Copy is the sound of keyboards and synthesizers, reverberating vocals and shimmering cymbals. In some way it is utterly alien, and yet oddly familiar; the sound of something we’ve never heard before, but which has been based on good old, recently tried and tested formulas. Like a house of candy, it is very appreciable in the overall architecture, and the choice of materials. And these run the whole way through the album, taking it in turns to play tricks on you, it might be a familiar riff or lyric • ‘there’s something in the air tonight’ on the track “Hearts on Fire”? • in an utterly weird place. But despite all this choice strangeness, they still inspire confidence; perhaps because of the supreme production values exhibited. And indeed, the album was produced in association with Tim Goldsworthy, the man who produced the much loved Muse amongst others.
Whilst it would not be accurate to point out a particular driving relentlessness, Cut///Copy is not in any way a chilled out, relaxed band. Whilst they might discourse upon subjects such as “Strangers in the Wind” and “Hearts on Fire”, it is worth noting that they are firmly grounded in the reality of a solid beat and a sensational synth and keyboard section. This is not a sound which is covering old ground. No, this is something new, something with a different texture on the ears, and it tastes nice too.