♬ School of Seven Bells – Ghostory
In 2007, Benjamin Curtis of Secret Machines and identical twins Alejandra and Claudia Deheza of On!Air!Library! met while both groups were touring in support of Interpol. The trio left their bands, moved in together, set up a home recording studio and School of Seven Bells was formed. Their outstanding debut album, Alpinisms, was released one year later and 2010′s Disconnect from Desire showed a larger, fuller sound for the trio.
Their third full-length, Ghostory, was released today, just five months after the band announced via Facebook that Claudia Deheza had left the band “for personal reasons”. My initial thought upon hearing that news was that the band was toast. How do you lose one half of a twin sister front based on harmonic vocals without losing your sound completely? Well, not only have they pulled it of via multitracking Alejandra’s vocals, on Ghostory they’ve somehow created their most lush and layered sounds to date.
On first listen, this one appears less dreamy and manipulated, more organic, as if they’re moving more toward indie electronic and away from pure dream pop… Phantogram on Valium. I like it a lot… but I’ve liked everything they’ve released from the start. Take a listen and let me know what you think.
I got goose-bumps I was so moved by “When You Sing”.
Major break-out album alert. Which song is the new “Half Asleep”?
Ahhh, SVIIB. Nice one. I thought for sure that these guys were done after the one sister bailed.
This is frankly one of the best bands to emerge in perhaps a decade. No band I can think of presents a more unique sound today.
“How do you lose one half of a twin sister front based on harmonic vocals without losing your sound completely?”
-electronically, of course!!