Theory Of Ghosts – EP3

Faint Horizon

Having cemented Theory Of Ghosts as a more solid fixture in Glen Johnson’s post-Piano Magic firmament — with the full-length showcase of The Sulphur And The Grey earlier this year – the project returns with relative rapidity in the shape of the functionally entitled EP3.

Now rebilled as a revised trio line-up of Johnson, co-founder Franck Alba and later-arrival Paul Tombohm, this hybrid set-up of past Piano Magic players from different eras of the group gels succinctly through three freshly-cut pieces across fifteen minutes. The comparative brevity suits them well, particularly when focusing proceedings even more tightly on the ensemble’s pop-noir smarts on the two bookend tracks fronted by Johnson.

Hence, the opening “The World’s Not Made To Last” fuses a bleak but oddly breezy lyric to all manner of lush vocal layers, melodic bass hooks, handclaps, typewriter-meets-knitting-needle-like programmed percussion and belltower chimes, as if it were an end product from Vince Clarke directing a super-group featuring Simon Gallup, Paul Humphreys and Wolfgang Flür. A little later on, the closing “Fetch” follows in a similar spirit, but goes for a more pulsing groove ride, tiered-up with samples, electronics, keyboards and more fidgety Fad Gadget-like drum sounds.

Sat in the middle is the more organically ornate Alba-sung “Du Vent”, which dramatically dials down the pace for a lugubrious piano-centred chamber waltz, to remind us of the strong pan-European cosmopolitan strands woven through the extended Piano Magic family tree.

Whilst perhaps unlikely to attract those previously unconverted, this fleeting but consummately constructed three-tracker keeps the lateral momentum of Theory Of Ghosts satisfyingly rolling forward.

-Adrian-