Album Reviews

On album number three, School Of Seven Bells had to make due with one less band member  after the departure of Claudia Deheza. Luckily her twin sister Alejandra Deheza decided to stick around. Together with knobtwister Benjamin Curtis, the two of them came up with what is probably their best album to date.

Don’t be put off by the fact that this is a concept album about a girl named Lafaye who finds herself surrounded by ghosts. And nevermind that School Of Seven Bells has the image of a band that spends its downtime polishing their chakras. No seriously, don’t run!

Alejandra’s hushed vocals have this ethereal ring to them and line up perfectly with the shoegazer waves of guitar and frivolous use of electronics. A song like “Lafaye” wouldn’t have looked out of place on the recent soundtrack of “Drive”, whereas “When You Sing” comes with a My Bloody Valentine vibe and even other songs bring back memories of coldwave bands like Cocteau Twins. And on top of that the whole thing sounds downright danceable. That’s a lot to juggle around yet School Of Seven Bells manage to make the album sound whole.

They say that less is more and listening to “Ghostory”, I’m thinking that this is one cliché that comes with more than just a kernel of truth.