Geographer: Innocent Ghosts

Geographer frontman Michael Deni reveals Innocent Ghosts‘ cathartic purposes rather early on: only a minute into album opener (and lead single) “Can’t You Wait”, Deni intones “You couldn’t wait / but I’ll never love another.” Ghosts is an album that wears its loss and hurt on its sleeve without ever really wallowing in it, a full-body embrace of life’s frequent pains for all the growth and maturity they provide. The album’s themes are only emphasized and made more poignant by the music, an enveloping blend of electro pop with something decidedly more earthy: Deni sounds a bit like Robin Pecknold, and is backed up by synths, strings, organs and subtle drums that sound like the Postal Service relaxing in a woodland cabin. Innocent Ghosts does lose a little bit of steam, both musically and thematically, as the album wears on, but its early heights show so much promise, a slight dip is easy to overlook: Deni is able to put together beautiful, poignant music, well worth getting absorbed in.