Former Wiseguy member Theo Keating and Simian’s front man Simon Lord have come together once more to release their melodramatic self-titled new album, The Black Ghosts. To best explain this deburt from The Black Ghosts, I can only think of three words. Perverse pop confusion. This is the most confused release of the year. Shall I be dance, grunge, soft rock or electro pop or jazzy hip hop? The latter in particular, clearly stems from Keating’s interest in Hip Hop since the age of 12.

Sometimes lost in their versatility, they stand out as individual tracks but not as an identifiable album. You know those songs that are really catchy, but you can never remember who they’re by? So you think, “oh yeah, I know that, who did that again?? Never mind…” The album has a tendency to stop start early on, keeping you from relaxing into it. By the end, the songs become less aggressive, less developed and frankly less interesting.

But if it is going to be pop, at least it is crafted pop with variety and an occult embroidered intrigue. With the overpowering power of the 80s revival still hanging over our heads, the Black Ghosts did manage to bring us slightly back to the 70s with Something New and the beloved electric piano. As Lord describes, “the music he (Keating) produces for me to write over has plenty of backbone and strong hooks.” Whether you’re listening on your iPod or catching them on the dance floor, you have to agree that the strong hooks do indeed stand out.

It’s Your Touch really breaks up the ambience of the album. The long jazzy notes and loose vocals wake you out of the earlier grunge of the first two songs. The next song, a current popular hit, begins the albums transition into a Cut Copy style electronica. On Repetition, Blur and Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn guest stars, and I’m a sucker for cheesy synths so even I find myself bopping along to a single that has become their most memorable.

And then, just when you think you’re going to get a bit of stability, they pump out Until it Comes Again with a hip hop spine tying us back to the first track and somber melodies to really confuse us as to what genre we are listening to. By this stage I’m getting a little sick of the terrible transitions between tracks, and although I Want Nothing is one of their best, it really could have done with a better introduction. Anything, at this point even a fade out will do. Well Whatcha gonna do?

Although the accumulation of ideas from these two former stars does intrigue, I am already much more interested in what they’ll do next than what they’ve done now. Unfortunately I have to say they fall short of completing their fusion in this collaboration. But debut albums aren’t supposed to be easy. And luckily for them, if you fail to succeed in your first few albums, you’re more likely to be talented. These guys know what pressure, success and hard work is all about in the music industry. They are not just working to re-establish their sound, but also their image.

Despite the instability, The Ghosts take a more subdued path towards the second half of the album. An interesting turn but one that I personally found less effective than the harder, more recognizable half. Basically the album, although fun and intriguing at times, is unstable. Not as bouncy as Simian, but in its own right still a worthy pop album.