Months after New Order announced their split, Cut Copy swooped in from Australia to fill the vacancy. That may sound like a backhanded compliment, but it isn’t, because the Melbourne trio doesn’t sound exactly like their Mancunian forebears. They do, however, scratch a similar itch for super-catchy synth-pop. Radio stations, dance clubs, and music critics have taken notice, and the group’s follow-up to 2004’s Bright Like Neon Love looks set to be their most successful effort yet. It certainly doesn’t hurt that DFA domo Andy Goldsworthy (associate of LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy) offers his production and mixing moxie. Listen closely, and you can also hear a little ELO, Brian Eno, and Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark. Further, vocalist/keyboard player Dan Whitford has the perfect singing style for this kind of thing. Like New Order’s Bernard Sumner, it’s smooth, but not slick; yearning, but never desperate. In “Midnight Runner,” when he whispers, “There’s a secret I’ve been keeping from you,” it’s hard to resist leaning towards the speakers–or cranking up the headphones–for some insight, but Whitford isn’t telling, lending the romantic proceedings a dash of mystery.
From start to finish, In Ghost Colours goes down easy, but it’s hard to predict how much staying power it’ll have outside the club scene. Unlike New Order’s “Blue Monday” or LCD’s “All My Friends,” to name two gloriously insistent examples, there’s no sonic or lyrical edge here–nothing even resembling an edge. Fortunately, Cut Copy are too bouyant to qualify as bland, but there’s no reason synth-based dance music purveyors shouldn’t dig deeper, push harder. Resonance awaits those willing to take the chance.