Review Summary: Greyscale
Ghost Culture has come this close to boiling under the surface of electronic music. This first release and namesake shot across the internet by only the first few weeks of the new year, traveling faster than the name of its own creator. Well, now it's time to meet the reclusive and enigmatic James Greenwood, who ushers in just enough breath from his London accent to give an undisciplined sultriness to his canvases of molten synth. He's already got a queue of listeners that are anxious about his next shrouded move as if he’s already taken it and achieved something. All the while he lurks, waiting and watching, and there isn’t much to say about the relative unknown that isn't verily available on his SoundCloud and Facebook. Maybe he truly is a recluse. Or maybe he’s reading this damn review.
As it stands, Ghost Culture has found a niche in the confines of ambience and so-called "Detroit techno." The underground scene flourished his darkly set debuts "Guidecca" and "Mouth" as true classics and now he tapers them flawlessly onto the album alongside the upbeat and tidy "Arms" and "How." However I find myself questioning the bum’s rush of material used to pad and stuff the middle-end and how confusing they are. "Glacier" feels like a ballad outtake, and "Lying" is so vocally uninteresting that they should have taken his voice out altogether and hired a guest voice to give the album an edge. Even on "Answer" the presence of his vocals feel more like the fulfillment of a contract requirement than to benefit the song. Why in the hell aren't there are hardly as many sinful pleasantries as there are duds on Ghost Culture? If every track had the zeal of "Mouth" then I wouldn't have the words to describe how groundbreaking it would be. But it's not, and those same duds such as "Lucky" which start with promise before offering a free headache for its listeners by repeating the same ‘lucky, lucky, lucky...’ into oblivion are also beside songs that need expansion to have a more fulfilling sound, like the beautful ideas in "The Fog." Somehow and unfathomably Greenwood’s vocal cords sound as if they were pushed in by a gun being held to his neck on "Answer" as well.
It's plain to see that continuing on the styles of "Glass" and "The Fog" could make Ghost Culture a well known name. "Mouth" is already a classic and he's got that much going for him, it's just frustrating that his first LP is only flawless through the first five songs before becoming completely uninteresting on the latter half. And since Ghost Culture doesn't sound like the type that will make continuous releases throughout a year, we're all anxiously waiting, knowing that it will take some time until he comes out with his next release.
