I’ve been following Zero 7 since discovering 2001’s Simple Things and catching the band live at a small Philadelphia club show. At the time, I saw them as sort of spiritual sidekicks to Massive Attack – which is saying a lot, in my book. They employed several talented vocalists, male and female, balancing out electronic trip-hop with deep, earthy soul.
After an on-par follow-up, as well as a breakout solo debut by alum Sia Furler (soccer moms everywhere rejoiced at the discovery of a new Dido!), the band veered to the left a bit. They released an album entitled The Garden, bringing on indie folk singer José González, which see-sawed between his understated crooning and a poppiness that was closer to Goldfrapp than, say, Air, or the band’s previous albums for that matter.
In hindsight, The Garden wasn’t nearly as much of a deviation as was said at the time. Especially when you place it next to their new album, Yeah Ghost. I had loved the growth I heard on The Garden, and expected to be impressed by Yeah Ghost. I was more than impressed. I was blown away.
Occasionally we give or take credit based on a band’s ability to challenge its own comfort level, but it’s rarely more than a minor objective factor, a footnote. With Yeah Ghost, it’s the first thing that hits you, and it hits hard.
The disc opens with a short atmospheric intro called Count Me Out that in a minute and a half crosses the imaginary bridge between the sort of ethereal naked time music the band has come to be known for, and the danceable pop music that eventually emerges as a defining characteristic of the new album. But as you cross that bridge for the first time, there’s not even a false indication of what’s to come. It’s nothing more than your way in.
Mr. McGee opens coyly with a quietly commanding verse led by a startling newcomer named Eska Mtungwazi. Then the beat kicks in and suddenly you’re listening to Aretha Franklin covering Britney Spears covering James Brown. The song is all hook, but it’s got balls, and it’s got soul, too. In a cooler, alternate universe where marketing dollars are spent more evenly, this song is burning up the radio airwaves and shaking asses in the club. The song just kicks all expectations right out of you.
Swing takes things back to the Zero 7 we’re a little more accustomed to, with Martha Tilston Binky Shapiro [thanks, commenters] acting as a considerably convincing stand-in for Sia, following acoustic guitar, xylophone, and synth chimes, none of which would have been out of place on The Garden.
Lead single Everything Up (Zizou) follows, led by half of the band’s core duo, Henry Binns. In the company of the album’s talented women, Binns’ vocals are a low point. He’s the first to admit he’s no singer, and no frontman, and we don’t want to be too hard on the guy; his voice is passable, and the backing music of this track is nothing to be ashamed of. But there are a number of better tracks on Yeah Ghost that would have been better first feet forward.
Pop Art Blue is surely one of them. It’s a particularly understated track, just a whisked drum beat with subtle guitar and synth noodling bubbling up in the background here and there, but Tilston’s vocals are expert, and when she sings I cut myself on barbed wire / getting wood for that fire, you feel the emotion, and it gives a real chill.
Mtungwazi returns on Medicine Man, and brings back with her the explosively upbeat hooks that have me filing Yeah Ghost under an entirely different genre in my music library. On Sleeper, on the other hand, both her vocals as well as the backing track take a slightly different direction. It still pops, but it trades the jungle vibe for a more urban one, vaguely reminiscent of Santigold or M.I.A., featuring a purposely repetitive punchy refrain: I won’t sleep / k-keep the radio on.
Ghost Symbol and Solastalgia provide textural interludes, the former being the the most interesting. It features vocals by a creature identified as Jackie Daniels, extremely phase-shifted to the point where they sound literally like a ghost slowly howling… through a computer. A subterranean bass track drives the strange trip through the album’s proverbial bat country.
Yeah Ghost closes with the gospel hymn The Road, followed by All Of Us, an instrumental track almost disappointingly characteristic of the band’s past work. In my opinion, The Road would be a much more memorable song to walk off to, and while there’s nothing wrong with All Of Us, it’s just not necessary.
With all the twists and turns, one could criticize the album for being a little less coherent than its predecessors, but it would only be justifiable in a strictly objective sense. On paper, the album does bounce from feather-light whimpers to block rockin’ bangers, but Yeah Ghost maintains an intrinsic identity throughout, and you never once find yourself wondering if your music playing device of choice has prematurely hopped to the next playlist.
For better or worse, Yeah Ghost is at the top of the pile of new releases on my desk this week – and I would blaspheme to name some of those underneath. It’s not flawless, and it’s not quite a contender for album of the year. Part of its appeal may just come down to timing, personal preference, and/or my own expectations. However if my initial reaction to The Garden three years ago provide an indication, I’ll continue to listen to Yeah Ghost for months and years to come, and I’m confident that I will continue to recognize it as a solid album, and one I’m glad to have found.
Oh and guess what? You can listen to Yeah Ghost right now, in its entirety, for free at We7, MySpace, or Facebook.
- 01. Count Me Out
- 02. Mr McGee
- 03. Swing
- 04. Everything Up [Zizou]
- 05. Pop Art Blue
- 06. Medicine Man
- 07. Ghost SYMbOL
- 08. Sleeper
- 09. Solastalgia
- 10. The Road
- 11. All Of Us
Cool song. Cool name for the album too. Idk why that struck me, but it did. Beautiful vocals. I also think it’s great that you can hear the whole thing first before you buy it. That’s the kind of thing people want to be able to do, and it makes it more likely that the new fan will make a purchase, without illegaly downloading. An example of a succesful business model, one would hope.
Firecloud and I both agree that this sucks. If I wanted to hear this I’d just listen to Tricky. At least he does it properly.
i’d almost respect that comment if you said morcheeba or something. but tricky is a rapper. what he does is completely different than what zero 7 does.
love simple things, gonna have to check this one out. that sample song is pretty sick
I’d almost respect your comment, if in fact Tricky was a rapper.
http://www.nndb.com/people/098/000031005/
or from his wiki… “…a member of the Fresh 4, a rap group built from The Wild Bunch. He also rapped on Massive Attack’s acclaimed debut album…” maybe you’re talking about a different tricky?
name one song from one Tricky album where Tricky raps. The people he collaborates with rap, but not him
That’s like saying that the Black Keys are rappers now because they are working with Mos Def. Anyways half the shit you ready on Wiki is b.s.
are you fucking kidding me? have you heard angeles with dirty faces? he raps. he is a rapper. i’m not saying massive attack is rap music, i’m saying the guy that sung raps for them is a rapper. he collaborates with other rappers and explores many other genres, and i am a big fan of all of it. but tricky’s primary occupations have always been rapper and producer.
I totally disagree that half the shit you read on wikipedia is b.s. If that were true, it would have collapsed a while ago. Any of the material in any wikipedia article can be cross checked and referenced to the original sources.
@skwurl
I have all of his albums on vinyl. so yes, I have heard Angels With Dirty Faces. And unless he raps on the bonus tracks, which I have yet to hear, I think it’s pretty obvious that Tricky is more on the side of R&B, Blues and Trip Hop. The truth is, not one song off AWDF is a rap song.
Now on the other hand you could easily say that Bom Bom Diggy off his album Juxtapose is a rap song and you would be correct however Tricky doesn’t rap on it himself.
I thought this thread was about Zero 7 (geh)??? Run along and review Album by Girls already.
we clearly disagree on what rap is, and we’ll have to save that convo for another day. because you’re right, this thread should about yeah ghost. which i say is a good album.
FFFFFFFFFFFF IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE CCCCCCCCCCCCCCC LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So comments are called threads now? Jesus… and I used the word “meme” for the first time last week. Fuck I feel old. But hell, at least I got to hang out with Jack White today.
SSSSHHHHOOOORRRRYYYYUUUUKEEEENN!!!
Rapper or not, I agree that Tricky and Zero 7 are nothing alike and should not be compared. I like all of Zero 7’s albums. I haven’t heard Yeah Ghost but will probably buy it just to help support a group that I respect and admire.
I’ve long listened to and been a fan of Zero 7 and Sia as well – I was very excited when I heard they were finally making another studio album. Listened to it today for the first time, and I have to admit it’s really really different from their other studio albums, but I love it. Perhaps my taste in music has grown with theirs? I don’t know, but I agree that it’s going to be an album I’ll listen to for quite a while to come!
I like the review. It’s a good album, but I have to say I liked the Garden a lot better right away. It’s taken more time to like Yeah Ghost, but I have only had it for a couple days, and I’ve enjoyed it so far.
Honestly I have been most surprised the band has kept making good albums. Most groups in the trip-hop/ambient/whatever genre they fit in haven’t had the sustaining power, so good for them, and I hope they keep making bad ass albums.
Its too bad Sia is gone, and I saw Morcheeba mentioned earlier and I have to say that’s who I thought of when listening to the Eska Mtungwazi, however Morcheeba did it much better w/Skye(personally I think losing her was a bad idea on their part, but no time for that here)
Pop Art Blue is one of their best songs thus far, on par with anything previous.
Finally, Tricky raps on Massive Attack. Massive Attack and Zero 7 could be considered in a similar genre, but Massive Attack has more in common with Morcheeba than Zero 7.
well i saw them live last night in brighton, having seen them 3 or so years ago inthe same venue after the release of the garden. i must say i was hugely dissapointed.
i am a huge fan of the previous albums and was uber shocked by this one. not my bag at all. the couple of old style tracks – swing and pop art blue are much mroe like the old zero 7 i know and love. alot of the other stuff imho is just a bit rubbish. shame Sia left, i really liked her voice. not saying the new girls cant sing, just not quite the same. .. im getting old and set in my ways maybe.
clearly artists grow and change, but this was such a huge deviation they didnt come anywhere near my street let alone up it.
i think if i had wanted to listen to this sort of stuff i probably would listen to someone else that does it a bit better, not that i could tell what better was.
almost a bit jungle/drum n bass.. bit old for that now :)
just got the cd and I’m really disappointed.They have completely abandoned the jazzy soul vibe that they had on their first 2 cd’s.Things are sounding too english/pop for my ears.I liked the garden,but I felt things were starting too lean towards the pop..masked w/some out instrumentation.I liked the way Sia was produced on the zero 7 tracks, but disliked her solo effort.Can’t stand the vibrato singing new chick singer.
I saw them live at the Roundhouse in Camden a couple of weeks ago, and I think if I’d gone and not listened to the new album I would’ve been rather disappointed. Because I went with an open mind, I quite enjoyed it. I was only really disappointed by some of the older songs sung by the new artists – not what a lot of people wanted to see, and they completely changed some of the songs… But Sia has confirmed on her website that she’s doing her own thing now, so I doubt any of us will ever see a concert like The Garden tour again! (Though I must say – if you ever get the chance to see Sia on her own, she is BRILLIANT live).
My personal favorite was the Garden, hearing Yeah Ghost for the first time left me a little bewildered as to the direction Zero 7 was taking.
I’ve been listening to the new album for 2 days now, and it’s starting to grow on me. There is some real merit to the work, and if I look at the album not as a the old Zero 7 but as a progression from the previous albums I can see the path they are taking.
Some of the tracks are very good, while others, well, they seem a little sophomoric in their execution. I definitely favor the tracks that lean more towards the older Zero 7 such as swing and Pop Art Blue. The new vocalists are quite good, and I think they do an adequate job of replacing Sia in the lineup.
I enjoy chill and down tempo music, so if this sound is where they’re heading, I may just have to be content listening to older Zero 7. Who knows, maybe the new stuff will really start to grow on me like it did with the Garden.
Still I’m looking forward to seeing them live again, it’s been too long.
hmmm where to start? I must say I am not feeling this album quite like I felt the first 3…there are definitely a couple of songs that I’m really liking, but something just doesn’t seem to be there on this one…well, at least not yet. I really liked Jose on the last and really liked Tina and Sophie Barker too. I used to feel something different in me when I use to listen to those old albums, and from the first time. Only a couple of songs are creating that for me here. “The Road” is really nice, I also like “Medicine Man” and “Ghost Symbol”, but I’m looking for something more epic like “Your Place” from the garden. Or the horns of “Waiting to Die”. Still all in all this is a great album though. We must remember the brilliance of those earlier albums and try not to compare. This is a different day, with different acts. It’s still bloody gold, but I’m still waiting for that feeling I used to get…
As a Zero 7 early adopter and having witnessed them live twice in London in 2001 (Sheperds Bush Empire) and having followed their journey from early Ep’s to Simple Things and through to ‘Yeah’ I have to say that they’re one of the few bands working in this genre, whatever this genre is now, that has the ability to challenge and surprise, one of the few that continues to demonstrate longevity in an uber fucking fickle world.
On initial listen I was like “what the fuck!?” but after a while it gets under the skin, begins to make sense and, more importantly, takes form and function. “Count Me Out” is just utterly gorgeous, a doff of the cap to The Stranglers in its intro but it’s all about the vocal, and don’t these boys have an inherent ability to pick top vocalists? Especially the unheralded (on a par with The Cinematic Orchestra). So, what this really boils down to is instant Zero 7 satisfaction, the old Zero, versus an album that challenges and slowly gets under the skin to become something of value, something that demonstrates a couple of guys creating and maintaining a path through the musical zeitgeist, an evolution of sound, and fuck me, the lads do that in spades! If true musical expression is challenging what you did before and, as a result, challenging your fan base’s expectations and ULTIMATELY winning them over then Zero 7 deserve to be recognised as the fucking low key, humble yet utterly talented stars they are :-)
Sorry, just to clarify, I meant “Swing” when I said “Count Me Out” before! Too much red, innit :-)
Zero 7 are just awesome. I was actually trying to find things down the road of Kruder & Dorfmeister, Morcheeba… But Zero 7 are… phewwww! Mind blowing! Soul tickling… I mean, mesmerizing!!!!
Track to escape with –> Ghost Symbol : MEDICATE!!!! Plug your headphones in the right hole, close your eyes… and let go!!!!
Specially when that 1st verse hits your ear drums.
“Easy to say no!”
Damn!!!! Zero 7… Good stuff!!!!
I want to claw my eyes out when I Mr. McGee. Did Brittney Spears kill Zero 7?
@Skwerl – The singer of Swing is Binki Shapiro of Little Joy, not Martha Tilston – one’s American, one is British – should be easy to spot ;)
I’m disheartened when I read the classic mix of “they should be more like everything they’ve done before” comments alongside the exact opposite “…almost disappointingly characteristic of the band’s past work” – but you can’t beat “they are sounding too English” for a complaint about an English band!
Zero 7 stands for something y’know..
Zero = the amount of cumulative talent between them and any of their amateur-singer affiliates.
7 = the approximate age of the fucking POET behind some of the most predictable rhymes ever perpetrated against humanity.
Anyone who denies my egotism is proclaiming their love for shitty music.
To clarify on the singer yet again, binky shapiro sings on the recorded album, however martha tilston sings with the band live on kcrw radio.