Album Reviews

Album Review: Zero 7 – Yeah Ghost (Warner/Atlantic Records)

By | Published on Saturday 19 September 2009

Zero 7

Three years after Zero 7’s perfectly produced ‘The Garden’, Grammy-nominated artists Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker are back with ‘Yeah Ghost’. The album is a complete departure from the lo-fi, ambient sounds created on their first three albums and kudos has to go to the band for trying something new. But unfortunately on ‘Yeah Ghost’ the change is a little too extreme. In fact, what Zero 7 have released is an entirely inconsistent collection of singles most of which would be more suited as b-sides for an album of singles from the Zero 7 we’ve all come to know and love. Nowhere is the mess of the album truly presented better than in the second track ‘Mr McGee’. A bland, vocal led, cheap R&B tune, the vocals in question are provided by Eska Mtungwazi. Take away all the appeal of VV Brown and add ten years and you’ve got Eska Mtungwazi. There are some moments where ‘Yeah Ghost’ presents elements that suggest things are heading somewhere interesting. Martha Tilson’s voice on the delightful folk track ‘Swing’ is screaming out for a single release (and a more upbeat remix). And, in a different direction, ‘Everything Up (Zizou)’ – a rhythm based electro tune that is a reference to the album’s main inspiration, French footballer Zinedine Zidane – starts off promising but loses itself by the lazy chorus. The first single, ‘Medicine Man’, should serve as a warning for those thinking of buying the album – this really is a taste of what you’re in store for. And that is the tragedy of ‘Yeah Ghost’. GM

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