To the Ghosts

In the years that followed 2020s Host, Cults experienced viral success that catapulted "Always Forever" (from 2013s Static) and "Gilded Lily" (from 2017s Offering) to platinum and gold status, respectively, in the U.S. ("She Knows," their J. Cole collaboration, went platinum in the U.K.). That Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivions back catalog found new life on social media is just another example of how easily they meld pops past and future -- their songs sound as good in viral posts as they would playing on a soda shop jukebox or in a flying car. The duo created To the Ghosts in marathon writing and recording sessions during the COVID-19 global pandemic, and Follin and Oblivions intense focus often puts the spotlight on their timeless melodies and songwriting. This is most apparent on "Hung the Moon," the twangy lullaby that closes the album, but the ways Cults return to their fundamentals are never simple. They find fresh angles on the 1950s and 60s pop influences they use so charmingly on "Crybaby," where they wink at wallowing with breezy girl group harmonies, percolating electronics, and spacey sound effects that would make Joe Meek proud. Its an instant Cults classic along with "Left My Keys," which creates a mirage of the past that never existed set to handclaps and a Motown bassline. Oblivion and Follin have always been avid pop scholars, but their references are especially nimble on To the Ghosts. They flirt with baroque pop and 70s AM pop on "Crystal" and "Knots," evoke Suicide and the Magnetic Fields in equal measure on "Leave Home," and even riff on their own past in "Honey" with playground sounds that hark back to "Go Outside." Cults also continue Hosts panoramic experiments, delivering highlights with "Eat It Cold"s ambitious electro-pop meditation on how traditions and secrets can devour you and with the elegant menace -- and surprisingly heavy undertow -- of "Open Water." After more than a decade of making music, Cults still arent as easy to pin down as might be expected, but To the Ghosts reflects how theyve endured without compromising the innocence and artful popcraft at the heart of their sound. ~ Heather Phares