Ghost Suns - Testify EP
French electro-pop outfit Ghost Suns are an intriguing pair whose music is best described as a cross between Goldfrapp’s lush beauty and the neon-soaked, downtempo beats of electronic music’s most melancholy corners
French electro-pop outfit Ghost Suns are an intriguing pair whose music is best described as a cross between Goldfrapp’s lush beauty and the neon-soaked, downtempo beats of electronic music’s most melancholy corners. Their latest EP Testify, takes sonic cues from Lali Puna and maybe a little Depeche Mode, and is mostly terrific. Buoyed by vocalist Lola’s very capable voice that’s tracked to the electronic beats and production of her music partner Jeremy, it’s got plenty to show for.
It’s only “mostly terrific” because it stumbles out of the gates with its average opening title track. It skitters to and fro, with its Euro-popesque vocals but comes off sounding a little hokey. Nonetheless, it’s the only part of the EP that isn’t very good, as the rest of it is perhaps more akin to the level of quality Ghost Suns introduced with their 2017 EP We Are Not Good People (the cut “Wait Out” is a particularly fetching piece of synth-pop).
Take the synthesizer-strewn downbeats of “Down the Hill”, bleak in its painted atmosphere, but musically captivating, it is a very good example of the pictures Ghost Suns can create with their music. The frenetic, fuzzy nature of “Why Criminal?” is another fantastic track; alluring, seductive, and punctuated by the wonderful chorus vocal/music textures that makes it the EP’s stand-out effort. They traverse down darker ambient paths in “Cards on a Bicycle” with its brooding atmospherics, and close out proceedings with “Nothing More”. The closing track is a great example of Ghost Suns’ ability to create electro-pop that remains beautifully restrained without falling into histrionic pop traps.
Opening track aside, there’s plenty to like with Testify, and surely only a taste of what’s to come from Ghost Suns. In the end, 4 out of 5 is really quite good.
https://soundcloud.com/ghostsuns/why-criminal