In Ghost Colours

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In Ghost Colours
File:InGhostColours.jpg
Studio album by Cut Copy
Released 22 March 2008[1]
Recorded 2007[2]
Genre Electropop, alternative dance[3]
Length 50:35
Label Modular
Producer Tim Goldsworthy, Cut Copy[2]
Cut Copy chronology
Bright Like Neon Love
(2004)Bright Like Neon Love2004		 In Ghost Colours
(2008)		 Zonoscope
(2011)Zonoscope2011

In Ghost Colours is the second studio album by the Australian band Cut Copy. It comprises 15 tracks, including a re-recorded version of the single "Hearts on Fire". The album was originally planned as an Australian release for 2007, but was delayed until 2008 to accommodate a simultaneous international release of the recording.[2]

The album was produced in New York by Tim Goldsworthy, although the band's US label Interscope initially suggested they work with Timbaland.[4]

Structure and style

The album's sound has been mostly noticed for its positive, up-tempo melodies, and its juxtaposition of numerous styles. The Australian website FasterLouder called In Ghost Colours "an album that draws together the sweaty live energy of an indie rock gig with the synths and bleeps of house and electronica, along with the ever-present 80s influence and now, even a dash of 60s psychedelia thrown in for good measure."[5] The lead vocalist, Dan Whitford, said that the sound of In Ghost Colours is the closest the band has come to the sound they are after:

The album is a lot more realised than the first one. I think all of us, when we think of the first one, we agree we sort of got half way there. But on the new one we got a lot closer to the sort of sounds we're after. There are some different aspects to it - more layered, more dynamic, as well as some more loud, dance-y sections to it. And with the guitar there were many-layered sections as well. It got the real highs and lows, the real floaty bits, which I think is sort of a secret to our sound, with a lot of segues so that it just sort of flows together. And I think it's a lot more, kind of... complete.[6]

Pitchfork Media's review said, "If the pastichey Bright Like Neon Love felt more like an opportunistic patchwork quilt of other people's sounds and ideas, the hugely enjoyable In Ghost Colours feels light, confident, and unencumbered by the dictates of fashion."[7]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 79/100[8]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4.5/5 stars[3]
Alternative Press 4/5 stars[9]
Drowned in Sound 9/10[10]
Entertainment Weekly B–[11]
MusicOMH 4/5 stars[12]
Pitchfork Media 8.8/10[7]
PopMatters 8/10[13]
Slant Magazine 2.5/5 stars[14]
Spin 3.5/5 stars[15]
URB 4/5 stars[16]

In Ghost Colours was released in Australia on 22 March 2008,[1] in the United Kingdom on 5 May 2008 and in the United States on 8 April 2008.[13]

In Ghost Colours was the band's first entry into the Australian ARIA Albums Chart, reaching number one on 30 March 2008,[17] and the band's first entry in the Billboard album charts, where it peaked at 167 on its week of release.[18]

Critical response to In Ghost Colours was very positive. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 79, based on 17 reviews.[8] K. Ross Hoffman at AllMusic praised the album, writing, "To be sure, In Ghost Colours is a triumph of craftsmanship rather than vision -- a synthesis and refinement of existing sounds rather than anything dramatically new and original -- but it is an unalloyed triumph nonetheless, and one of the finest albums of its kind."[3] Mark Pytlik of Pitchfork Media found In Ghost Colours enjoyable and praised the album's cheerfulness, calling it "a hard record not to love" and assigning it a "Best New Music" designation.[7] Pitchfork Media later named it the fourth best record of 2008.[19]

Robert Christgau gave In Ghost Colours a two-star honourable mention rating, indicating a "likable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well enjoy", and cited "Out There on the Ice" and "Hearts on Fire" as highlights.[20][21] In a less positive review, Dave Hughes of Slant Magazine criticized the album for being unfocused.[14] Youyoung Lee of Entertainment Weekly called the album "uneven", writing that "for every pump-your-fist gem like 'Hearts on Fire,' there's a lifeless cut like the clanky 'Silver Thoughts,' which feels like a sonic hangover."[11]

Charts

Charts (2008) Peak
position
Australia 1[17]
Finland 32[22]
USA 167[18]

Accolades

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Drowned in Sound UK 50 Best Albums of the Year 2008 #3[23]
The Sunday Times UK 100 Best Albums of the Year 2008 #2[24]
Pitchfork Media USA 50 Best Albums of the Year 2008 #4[19]
Pitchfork Media USA The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s 2009 #61[25]
Montreal Mirror Canada 50 Best Albums of the Year 2008 —

Track listing

  1. "Feel the Love" – 4:28
  2. "Out There on the Ice" – 4:58
  3. "Lights & Music" – 4:37
  4. "We Fight for Diamonds" – 1:02
  5. "Unforgettable Season" – 3:13
  6. "Midnight Runner" – 2:33
  7. "So Haunted" – 4:27
  8. "Voices in Quartz" – 1:21
  9. "Hearts on Fire" – 4:53
  10. "Far Away" – 4:56
  11. "Silver Thoughts" – 0:29
  12. "Strangers in the Wind" – 4:44
  13. "Visions" – 1:10
  14. "Nobody Lost, Nobody Found" – 4:39
  15. "Eternity One Night Only" – 3:06

The UK release of the album has a bonus track, "Cold Youth".[26]

Personnel

The following people contributed to In Ghost Colours:[27]

Cut Copy

  • Dan Whitford – vocals, keyboard, guitar
  • Tim Hoey – guitar, sampler
  • Ben Browning – bass guitar
  • Mitchell Scott – drums

Additional personnel

  • Warwick Baker – cover photo
  • Eric Broucek – assistant
  • Tony Espie – printing engineer
  • Tim Goldsworthy – mixing, producer
  • Tim Hoey – mixing
  • Dan Whitford – mixing
  • Chris Woodstra – producer

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Top 50 Albums - Week of April 4, 2008". australian-charts.com (originally from ARIA). 30 March 2008. Retrieved 12 July 2009.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 In Ghost Colours - Cut Copy. Billboard.com. Retrieved 19 June 2011
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 The 50 Best Albums of 2008. Pitchfork Media. 19 December 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2011
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours. finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 19 June 2011
  23. ↑ Adams, Sean. Drowned in Sound's 50 albums of 2008. Drowned in Sound. 11 December 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  24. ↑ Sunday Times critics. The 100 best records of 2008. The Sunday Times. 7 December 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  25. ↑ The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 19 June 2011
  26. ↑ Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours (CD, Album). Discogs. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  27. ↑ In Ghost Colours - Credits. Allmusic. Retrieved 19 June 2011

External links

Preceded by Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
31 March 2008		 Succeeded by
Pretty. Odd. by Panic! at the Disco
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