review_schoolofsevenbells_ghostory_220

School Of Seven Bells - Ghostory

School Of Seven Bells

Ghostory

This review originally ran in AP 284.

Although School Of Seven Bells now record as a duo (Claudia Deheza, twin sister of vocalist Alejandra, left the group in 2010), the fantastic Ghostory actually sounds more realized than their previous two full-lengths. Credit for that goes to the album’s thematic structure—the songs focus on the personal ghosts of a girl named Lafaye—and its danceable music. While ’80s ambient-goths Cocteau Twins and ’90s angelic shoegazers Lush remain the band’s biggest influences, brisker tempos and harder beats liven up the post-punk choirgirl brooding “Lafaye” and “Scavenger,” while “White Wind” and the Eurythmics-meets-New Order “Low Times” have an engaging techno-pop edge. Alejandra Deheza is a natural as a dance-floor siren, but her gentler side—as heard on the hazy, drowsy synth-pop of “Reappear”—is just as bewitching.

Vagrant/Ghostly International http://www.vagrant.com

“Lafaye”