★★★★☆
The agenda of Gavin Miller and Thomas Ragsdale would appear clear from the get-go; the Manchester UK duo treat the mixing desk like a Ouija board. The band name, the ghoulish sleeve, titles such as “Far End of the Graveyard” and “A Muffled Sound of Voices”… the spirits have been disturbed. But while restless, no poltergeists throwing furniture across the room are invited here. Deep house with an icy twitch gives admiring glances to atmospheric dubstep in a fine interchange, marking an album with a wispy presence and offering plentiful reassurances despite the subzero temperatures and drawing of knife edges.
Humble and humbling, at times bracing for something so frail and always keeping a cool head when elements around get keyed up and so much seems at stake, the potential of plentiful visual tie-ins comes quickly as Ghosting Season turn themselves into mood music apparitions. The inserts of acoustic guitar are another natural fit, as on the reflective “13,” the beatless dialogue “Lie” and “Lost at Sea” mulling over its next move, but only lock onto the likes of “Time Without Question” if your mindstate is correctly set. Achieving house music pleading for forgiveness at the DJ booth or having you walk into the strobes as if the mothership is calling, the delights of its economical, effective daunting will doubtless draw you in.
File under: worriedaboutsatan, Burial, Pantha du Prince