Holy Ghost! – Work

It’s been over half a decade since Holy Ghost! released their last album, Dynamics, but this time away allowed Alex Frankel and Nick Millhiser the opportunity to breathe. They moved from their Brooklyn studio into a small room above a doctor’s office; simultaneously, they stripped back their gear collection. But while they may have downsized, the pair’s new album Work feels as full as any Holy Ghost! record before it.

Work is also the first full-length LP to be released on pioneering disco label West End Records in 30 years. Fittingly, it captures some of the spirit of the sound upon which the duo’s new label built its iconic foundations, while adding a contemporary sheen. This modus operandi is defiantly stated on the breezy Do This, as the cascading hook declares 'We’re not about to let go'. Across 12 tracks, Frankel and Millhiser bring together a cacophony of bright synths and funk-laden grooves, even when there’s a faint bittersweet tinge; the likes of Anxious positively shimmer with ecstatic harmonies and danceable rhythms.

There are occasional missteps (the sweeping strings and Fleetwood Mac-leaning vibe of Nicky Buckingham are overshadowed by interfering effects, while the slow tempo of Heaven Knows What jars with the buoyancy of the rest of the album), but as a whole Work is a heady exploration of dance-pop’s spectrum.

Listen to: Do This, Anxious