In Ghost Colours

In Ghost Colours
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)		 In Ghost Colours
(2008)		 Zonoscope
(2011)

In Ghost Colours is the second studio album by Australian band Cut Copy. It is composed of 15 tracks in total, 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 debut of the recording.[2]

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

Structure and style

The album's sound has been mostly singled out for its positive, uptempo 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] Lead vocalist Dan Whitford has gone on the record as saying that the sound of In Ghost Colours is the closest the band have come to the sound they're 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 in its reviews stated: "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
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic link
Drowned in Sound (9/10) link
Paste (favourable) link
Pitchfork Media (8.8/10) link
PopMatters (8/10) link
Robert Christgau link
Slant link
Spin link
Time Off link
URB link

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.[8]

In Ghost Colours marked the band's debut to the Australian ARIA Albums Chart, reaching number-one on 30 March 2008.[9] The album also marked the band's debut to the Billboard album charts where it peaked at 167 on its week of release.[10]

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.[11]

Giving the album an 8.8 out of 10, Pitchfork Media's Mark Pytlik found the album enjoyable and praised the album's cheerfulness, writing "It's a hard record not to love." The website also gave In Ghost Colours a "Best New Music" designation and named it the fourth greatest record of 2008.[7][12] Allmusic's K. Ross Hoffman also 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]

In a less positive review, Slant's Dave Hughes criticized the album for being unfocused.[13] In another mixed review, Entertainment Weekly's Youyoung Lee called the album "uneven", writing "...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."[14]

Charts

Charts (2008) Peak
position
Australia 1[9]
Finland 32[15]
USA 167[10]

Accolades

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Drowned in Sound UK 50 Best Albums of the Year 2008 #3[16]
The Times UK 100 Best Albums of the Year 2008 #2[17]
Pitchfork Media USA 50 Best Albums of the Year 2008 #4[12]
Pitchfork Media USA The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s 2009 #61[18]
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 features an additional bonus track, "Cold Youth".[19]

Personnel

The following people contributed to In Ghost Colours:[20]

Cut Copy

Additional personnel

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Cut Copy take In Ghost Colours to the Yanks". FasterLouder.com.au. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "NEW ALBUM ANNOUNCEMENT!!!". Cut Copy official blog. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Hoffman, K. Ross. In Ghost Colours - Cut Copy. Allmusic. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  4. ↑ Jason Treuen. "Cut Copy interview". Rolling Stone Australia. Retrieved 4 May 2009.
  5. ↑ "Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours review". fasterlouder.com. 18 March 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  6. ↑ Tixgirl. "SCENE IN NY: Cut Copy Interview & Sold-Out Show at NY's Mercury Lounge". AOL Journals.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Pytlik, Mark. Album Reviews: Cut Copy: In Ghost Colours. Pitchfork Media. 14 April 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2011
  8. ↑ Raper, Don. Cut Copy: In Ghost Colours. Popmatters. 24 April 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2011
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Top 50 Albums - Week of April 4, 2008". australian-charts.com (originally from ARIA). 30 March 2008. Retrieved 12 July 2009.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 In Ghost Colours - Cut Copy. Billboard.com. Retrieved 19 June 2011
  11. ↑ "Cut Copy:In Ghost Colours (2008): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 The 50 Best Albums of 2008. Pitchfork Media. 19 December 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2011
  13. ↑ Hughes, Dave. Cut Copy: In Ghost Colours. Slant. 7 April 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2011
  14. ↑ . Lee, Youyoung. In Ghost Colours Review. Entertainment Weekly. 18 April 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2011
  15. ↑ Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours. finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 19 June 2011
  16. ↑ Adams, Sean. Drowned in Sound's 50 albums of 2008. Drowned in Sound. 11 December 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  17. ↑ Sunday Times critics. The 100 best records of 2008. The Times. 7 December 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  18. ↑ The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 19 June 2011
  19. ↑ Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours (CD, Album). Discogs. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  20. ↑ In Ghost Colours - Credits. Allmusic. Retrieved 19 June 2011

External links

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