aaamusic | On 06, Mar 2011

Perhaps it’s the fact that a reviewer gets set up to five or so things a week to listen to, but sometimes one just can’t help but feel that one thing that a reviewer shouldn’t feel: bored on the first listen. And the ‘Somersaults’ EP by Ghostlight is just such a release.

Throughout all five tracks of someone else’s latest ridiculous infatuation, I just can’t shake Snow Patrol and Coldplay comparisons as Ghostlight present to us a collection of romantically introspective, melodic songs that are enticingly warm yet totally characterless. ‘6 Years Later’ is in possession of a lovely melody, and the piano/glockenspiel caress one another tenderly beneath tuneful vocals, and the whole thing smacks of “indie chart topper” in its overdone, ballad-esque chorus and Coldplay drumming. ‘Morning Lights’ drops in a sobbing string section, accentuating the chamber music vibe that the piano-in-an-empty-room sound suggested earlier. The lyricism is euphorically lovesick to the point of trite, and the lilting violins are joined by gentle percussion and a top-40 guitar solo played alongside choppy acoustic guitar backing.

With its boost in tempo and thick bass sound, ‘Fingerprints’ is in possession of a jittery energy that borders on incredibly watered-down electro rock in its deep verse textures and synth-drenched riffs, but the chorus drops straight from enjoyable disorder into Snow Patrol, stripping it all back to the airy-fairy tinkles and jangles, and the piano-driven bridge, despite rock stabs, is simply too twee. At least ‘Mathematics’ is honest – it starts as it wishes to continue. It is a heart-on-sleeve strummed track, driven by an acoustic guitar and soppy lyrics that belong on the desk of a Twilight fan.

Closer ‘Primer’ has a fidgety, melancholy little waltz on the piano, backed by hushed, emotive vocals to create an intimate, almost classical air. Slowly with barely-perceptible atmospherics, a frail bass pulse and hi-hat whispers, the track builds into an expressive, rambling little stadium number, with soaring chords and (gently) tumbling percussion in the chorus, followed by melodramatically introspective verses backed by fingerpicked guitar and elegiac violins. To close is the inevitable singalong refrain, at which point I turned off.

Call me a cynic, but when faced with a collection of highly mannered, entirely inoffensive songs all dealing with unrequited love in an almost comically oversentimental manner, I just can’t engage. Every song on this EP is indeed well-produced and rather pretty with textual nuance and a classical charm, but all five are entirely unremarkable, sounding like a bland collection of Snow Patrol b-sides cruising straight down those clean and tidy lines in the middle of the road.

Author: Katie H-Halinski