The Ghost you Left Behind
When people think about the musical output of
Sweden, two things usually come to mind: death
metal, and ABBA. You can clearly imagine my
surprise when I learned that Hearts of Black Science
were from Sweden. The band plays a wellexecuted
style of electronic indie-pop. A heavy
current of downtempo electronica can be heard
throughout The Ghost You Left Behind, and a lot of
the glitchy drum patterns sound similar to Telefon
Tel Aviv. The only two acoustic instruments
utilized are guitar and voice, but they are integrated
with the electronic elements of the band’s
sound flawlessly. Some of the instrumental sections
of the album sound like Scottish instrumental
band God Is An Astronaut jamming out with
electronic legends Boards of Canada. The vocals
act as an extra instrument, and add to the overall
spooky vibe of most of the band’s songs.
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One track which stands out is “Driverlights,”
which uses a distorted guitar riff as its centerpiece.
The song has tons of energy despite the
relatively slow tempo, since the atmospherics
and live guitars meld together in a smoldering,
slow-burn. The Ghost You Left Behind is good
enough to overshadow some of the horrible
death metal and glam-pop that has come out of
Sweden over the years, and that is a truly commendable
thing.
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