- These past few years, German producer Benedikt Frey has dabbled in everything from techno to acid, deep house and electro, seemingly uninterested in carving out one musical identity. (Even his collaborative project, INIT, was torn between blunt '80s sounds and delicate electronica on their debut album.) It's hard to fault the guy for having such restless, wide-ranging interests, though it means you never really know what to expect from the next Frey record. Ghosts, then, is typical of Frey, who presents a smattering of different approaches that feel connected through their keen sense of atmosphere.
Take this Crème Organization EP track-by-track and you could have just one major complaint: the plodding, Nick Cave-esque "Scale," which sneers with a misplaced lechery that might only sound at home in the second season of True Detective. Cut that dead weight and Ghosts holds up better. The dense, dubby groove in "Faith" delivers its deep house charm with palpable tension and anthemic scope, and there's plenty of noirish intrigue and jazzy swing behind the 808s that drive "Ghosts." Even the punchy kicks and stand-up bass notes in "Can't Joke With Dxy" stand out at first, though they soon succumb to smears of soaring melody and overbearing reverb. Like with "Scale," the seriousness dumped onto Frey's opener feels unbecoming of an artist whose catalog looks far more laissez faire.
TracklistA1 Can't Joke With Dxy
A2 Faith
B1 Ghosts
B2 Scale