Simian’s Simon Lord and Theo Keating from The Wiseguys have joined forces to bring you The Black Ghosts. Theo’s past experience in DJ’ing and influence from a wide spectrum of producers such as Daft Punk and Serge Gainsbourg gets combined with Simon’s ability to compose rather disturbing lyrics out of fairly uncomfortable subject matter. The result, songs filled with dance and heartbreak.
Much of The Black Ghosts music revolves around the negative aspects of love, focusing on the pain love can cause and the unnecessary pain people inflict on each other when in love. According to Theo they write “love songs, but hardly the “Baby, let’s be together’ variety”, more the “blind rage” type songs. Simon’s lyrics illustrate his outrage with some rather faulty human instincts when confronted with love.
Simon’s turmoil driven, love/lust-filled lyrics come together with Theo’s very easy listening dance beats to produce something pretty special in my opinion. Well some might claim that their music is too commercial, or pop-like, there is more to each song than one can grasp from first listen. The music is very accessible, most of the songs are about girls, love, lust or something in-between and the lyrics aren’t sung in a very unique style. They describe their own music as “perverse, personal pop”. So basically it would seem The Black Ghosts are just another pop duo… But they are not; they are so much more than that, well to me anyway.
The Black Ghosts have been very proactive since they formed, producing a number of tracks and remixes before releasing Anyway You Choose to Give It EP which received a modest 6.3/10 from Pitchfork. Mid July 08 marked the release of their first full length album. It’s full of finely crafted electro/pop songs that shout dance and tug at your heart simultaneously. The banging beats have been toned down but the thrust that Simon once possessed with Simian has not been lost, only more refined by the infusion of pop and electro with a dash of rock. This album surely will receive a greater rating than its predecessor.
we-are-awesome rating: 7/10.
Bonus Video. Repetition Kills You, the first single off ‘The Black Ghosts’.
