The Ghosts - The End (Pocket)

The Ghosts’ debut exudes a sense of constantly moving forward. Bridging the gap between Hurts, Klaxons and Roxy Music, the synth pop five-piece don’t sound like they’re trying to change the face of music, but instead creating their own niche in today’s ever self-consuming slew of chart bands posing as indie kids.

‘Enough Time’ starts the record off proper with a Beegees chorus, adding a definite disco-lite mood to proceedings which is carried on with ‘In An Emergency’s dance floor-filling drums, while ‘Company Like Yours’ is what it’d sound like if Paul McCartney discovered the 21st Century. The rest is a sonorous melting pot of 80s hooks, resplendent melodies, and an overarching confidence in pulling it all off.

Founding duo Palmer and Starling have a definite ear for big choruses, and an equally melancholic and blithe repertoire when it comes to the ‘The End’s lyrical content. "Now I think about it, I’ve been wasting my time just by walking around here" from ‘Scared’ displays the overall feeling of the record: never subscribing to a particular school of one track-minded emotion that their peers seem to be perpetuating.

With such a promising, if sometimes kitschy start, The Ghosts may find themselves opening their niche up that bit more to an audience that’ll appreciate their eager taste – and talent – for building minor anthems for the indie synth-pop world.