Zero 7: Yeah Ghost

I discovered this little band about 4 or 5 years ago just on a whim. I was just getting into downtempo electronic stuff at the time and happened upon Zero 7's The Garden. I had never heard a note of these guys and the cover looked interesting so, I picked it up. What I heard can only be described as infectious, warm, tight little songs just oozing out of my speakers. I later found out that this band was featured heavily in the movie Garden State. I have been a huge fan ever since. On their most recent Yeah Ghost, Zero 7 makes new inroads into their musical style. While mostly being known for Sneaker Pimps-like droning, catchy tunes, this time around they go for a more upbeat poppy sound. The core of Zero 7 is England's Henry Binns and Same Hardaker who have a flair for switching back and forth between acoustic instruments and electronic ones.

Sia Furler, an ever constant contributor is absent from this effort, however, newcomer Eska Mtungwazi lends her voice to a couple of tunes on the album. The first being "Swing", a song that seems taylor made for an ipod commercial, along with "Ghost sYMbOL", and aptly-named, haunting ditty that plays tricks with her voice. The high point of the album for me is "Everything Up (Zisou)", a track where Binns is credited as the vocalist. Something about the way his voice mixes with the foot tapping pace of the song has made it one of my most replayed songs currently.

Zero 7 always has a way of creating works of art that stay in my head and my stereo for large amounts of time and I think it would do most anyone lots of good to give these guys a listen. I do suggest however starting with their older stuff and going from there so you can follow the evolution a bit closer. This album on its own is probably the weakest effort by Zero 7... But that doesn't necessarily mean it has any less impact.

EDIT: Zero 7 will be playing at Metro on December 4th.

ALL of you should go.