Dutch duo Love Is Yes push deeper into experimental territory on Ghost and More Ghosts, a record filled with drifting melodies, warped textures, and quiet emotional weight.
The album feels like a collection of half-remembered dreams drifting through abandoned corridors, where motorik guitars, gamelan metallophones, airy vocals, and shimmering synths dissolve and reassemble in endlessly surprising forms.
Rather than building conventional songs, Dax Niesten and Sander van der Toorn create miniature worlds that flicker between melancholy, humour, and quiet wonder.
Across thirteen concise pieces, the record thrives on contrast. Familiar pop structures appear briefly before being bent into strange new shapes, while textures blur the line between acoustic and synthetic. The result is immersive without becoming opaque, experimental without sacrificing melody.
Four tracks stand out as perfect entry points into the album’s spectral universe. ‘Ghost Thirteen’ introduces the record’s core language, pairing hypnotic rhythms with floating synth layers that seem to hover just beyond reach. ‘Ghost Four’ playfully twists melodic techno conventions into a dreamlike, off-kilter blend that balances movement with disorientation.
The disembodied, otherworldly R’n’B of ‘Ghost Six‘ drifts in like a signal from somewhere just out of reach, all soft shadows, warped emotion and a kind of weightless longing that lingers long after it fades out.
Meanwhile, ‘Ghost Three’ distils the duo’s pop instincts into one of the album’s most memorable moments, revealing a melodic warmth beneath the surrounding haze.
Elsewhere, short interludes function like portals between larger compositions, giving the album a fragmented yet cohesive flow. The closing ‘bye-bye’ provides an emotional landing point, gathering the record’s drifting elements into a surprisingly tender farewell.
Ghost and More Ghosts reward repeated listening. Every return reveals another hidden texture, stray melody, or unexpected detail. It is a haunting, inventive, and deeply personal record that confirms Love Is Yes as masters of transforming fragile sounds into vivid emotional landscapes.
