Ghost In The Water - Clear Sinks And Folded Laundry
[Hidden Shoal Recordings]

Hidden Shoal, in comparison to 2007’s output, has had a quiet start to this year. However it’s now full steam ahead with the launch of their brand new free single download series. Designed to pique the interest levels, each single will be available to download for free up until the corresponding album’s release date.

Starting with the husband and wife team of Ghost in the Water, the colourful electronic pop explosion contained here acts as a more than suitable pre-cursor to forth-coming album “Tooth” (due April 8th). “Clean Sinks and Folded Laundry” kicks of with a kind of Arcade Fire feel à la “Keep the Car Running”, with a Celtic cello intro, but soon develops into a Stereolab influenced vibe. It’s a bright number, with Mandy Tensen- Woolery’s vocals rising much like Bjork's style, while creating a lullaby-like atmosphere.

B-side, the highly infectious, “How to Draw a Ghost” is my favourite of the two. There is a strong 80’s aura about this number – not grey Thatcherism, New Romanticism or hairspray, but instead electric blue suits, cocktails and Miami Vice. It’s fast-paced, it’s urgent and it is the sort of thing you’d expect to hear at one of those (in)famous Optimo events. Driven by post-punk guitars and bass, computer game bleeps and a textured string arrangement, which adds a certain vibrancy, the vocals here recall Deborah Harry at her most seductive. This is no mean feat, I may add. It’s a disparate amalgam of sounds and influences that all tie together to give Ghost in the Water their own distinctive edge.

Both tracks leave you wanting more, Ghost in the Water are clearly as comfortable constructing dancefloor fillers as they are with breezy, Summer pop. Thankfully, we don’t have long to wait, the new album drops early April.

[Download the single for free here]

Track Listing:

1. Clear Sinks and Folded Laundry
2. How To Draw a Ghost