Let's not beat about the bush. Cut Copy's In Ghost Colours is THE album of the summer. It's this years Sound of Silver. It's possibly one of the most infectious albums of 2008 so far, a luscious blend of 80's synth pop that has dipped its toe in the waters of late 90's indie/dance music. There's hints of Depeche Mode, Erasure, and especially New Order, in it's musical kaleidoscope of 15 tracks.'Out There on the Ice' is where the party starts. It's thumping keyboards and beats channel the best bits of the Mode and New Order, the lyrics are pretty basic sub-dance floor fodder, but there's a joyous delivery to them that allows you to ignore them. It's all about the music. The words taking a back seat to the exhilarating and enthralling rattling of processed beats and juddering synths. 'Lights & Music' and 'Unforgettable Season' have outrageous swiped Peter Hook's trademark bass line, the latter morphing into a wall of shredded guitar pop that brings to mind the Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine at their most poptastic.There's the occasional instrumental interlude that allows you to pause for breath, and tracks such as 'Midnight Runner' act as a kind of David Lynch dream-sequence between the party pieces. The drifting guitars and rat-tap drums all float on a bed of the ethereal vocals, the guitars shuddering to shake themselves of the blackness of sleep.'So Haunted' should be a Top 10 hit. It begins with the scatter of feedback driven guitars, but bursts into life with an infectious chorus and jangling guitars and thunderous drums, it's final act of defiance are twitching synths over which the the echoing vocals sound like the breaking of the morning sun. 'Hearts on Fire' is it's twisted older brother that was bought up on 80's disco. There's hints of latter-day Electronic in it's harsh keyboards and twinkling stereo tricks; "With hearts on fire I reach out to you today" - it's a hands up in the air moment, lights scattering over the crowd on a warm evening in a massive field, somewhere in Somerset...It loses momentum towards the end, the final dying gasps of life are the gentle comedown from the party the night before. But I guess that's to be expected. With the soundtrack that Cut Copy have managed to create here, there's little wonder that they need some time to wind down at the end. 90%[Download Cut Copy music]Links Cut Copy [official site] [myspace]