A partnership between vocalist Christa Belle and War-N Harrison (of Fishtank No.9), the music of Apparitions is darkly ethereal trip-hop with heady goth-pop layering. Smoky and languid atmospherics coil around Belle's sultry and emotive vocals, while deep velvety bass resonates against spectral synths and drum machines. The opener, Alfred, is a wicked mix of languid dancefloor appeal and shadowy sensuality, while a cover of Depeche Mode's Blue Dress is a total southern ghost-story in electronics. Grave is the real highlight, though; hollow percussion, infectious synthlines and Christa's plaintively gorgeous vocals all enshrouded by washes of sepulchral sound. The third of the album is comprised of remixes (F9 remix Bound In Blood earlier on the album, giving a total club-friendly dark dance track) and some other songs that seem more like b-sides or oddities. Heavy Water Factory mix Grave into a lighter vein which is not as good as the original, and the Battery mix of Stretch applies the signature Battery touch to the song, adding a slight edge to an already strong track. Ode and Goodbye are exquisite showcases for Christa's voice; Ode is a spoken piece without music and a posthumous prayer to a lost friend. Goodbye is essentially an a cappella piece, full of ghostly beauty and power. Apparitions follows last year's promo "appetizer" sampler, which gained Hungry Lucy a bit of notice, mostly extremely positive, and the full-length, while released much later than anticipated, more than delivers on the promises the EP sampler made, and should hopefully give Fishtank Soundworks a bit of deserved recognition.

review by: Phosphor