2. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours

I have long opined that electronic music is the direction of the future. More specifically, Independent Dance Music - a motley pastiche of pop, rock and electronica which I first caught on to on Chris Ho's old late-night radio show Ear Wax around the turn of the century. Its strength lies in its dynamic, kaleidoscopic interweaving of styles, but so too does its weakness, if it can be called as such. Individual strands of music styles beg to be mislabelled, geography and culture play huge roles in their definition; and if ever there was a scene as bogged by irony and self-consciousness, and tied to the capriciousness of the fashion world, it would be this. Backlash comes hand-in-hand with success, and there's a nagging suspicion that it's collapsing under the very weight of its ubiquity. This, despite (or perhaps due to) the past few years being extremely truimphant ones for dance music, featuring eminent releases by the likes of LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip, Justice, The Tough Alliance, et al.
How timely, then, that Australian outfit Cut Copy follow up their rainbow-chasing debut Bright like Neon Love with a record that is both in vogue and timeless, brimming with optimism in the face of a tarnishing sheen of nay-say and cynicism. Curtain-raiser Feel the Love announces the group's motives right from its title. An effervescent swirl of hazy vocoded vocals and oscillating keyboards segues into a strident dance-rock groove, as frontman and DJ Dan Whitford sings languidly over clean acoustic guitar strumming and throbbing electro synths: "All the girls I've known are crying / But all the clouds have silver linings". The rest of the album follows suit, an involving, hyperactive array of sounds which are impossibly breezy and ebullient. Layers of melodies, beats and effects wash over one another, as new-wave revival meets shoegaze like some giddy Ian Curtis and Kevin Shields matchup.
The glorious opening trio builds up an electrifying, anthemic atmosphere that never lets up; and to Cut Copy's considerable credit, the album, with its seamless transitional pieces and recurring motifs, serves its addictive treats as a complete whole which never grows formulaic. In Ghost Colours always feels welcoming, like a sunkissed beach, rather than an over-eager lover, and DFA producer Tim Goldsworthy surely had a hand in the band's more assured and relaxed delivery. Often, one is too engrossed luxuriating in its simple, resonant melodies to notice what keeps it relentlessly fresh is its perfect balance of electronic and organic instrumentation - as exhibited on tracks like radio hits Lights & Music, an arena rock anthem transformed into a dancefloor classic, and So Haunted, with its disco chorus wedged between unstoppable swaths of fuzz guitar and rock drums.
Cut Copy certainly evocates the sound and demeanour of the '80s, but it never becomes cheesy derivative (*cough* M83) or blatant mimicry, but rather affectionate homage. So too, in attitude - Cut Copy allow themselves to be emotive and sincere, seeking and celebrating the sort of pop perfection that too-cool-for-school left-field electronic artists refuse to be drawn toward. "I've been searching for a love alive / drowning in the silence as we walk the night / Your hand is out and it brushes mine / a moment that is frozen as we hang in time", Whitford croons unabashedly in an gleeful display of sentimentality and vulnerability. Unforgettably gorgeous, you'll remember In Ghost Colours' lush, uplifting tunes well into 2009.

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