In Ghost Colours - Release and Reception

Release and Reception

In Ghost Colours was released in Australia on 22 March 2008, in the United Kingdom on 5 May 2008 and in the United States on 8 April 2008.

In Ghost Colours marked the band's debut to the Australian ARIA Albums Chart, reaching number-one on 30 March 2008. The album also marked the band's debut to the Billboard album charts where it peaked at 167 on its week of release.

Critical response to In Ghost Colours was very positive. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 79, based on 17 reviews.

Giving the album a 8.8 out of 10, Pitchfork Media's Mark Pytlik found the album enjoyable and praised the album's cheerfulness, writing "It's a hard record not to love." The website also gave In Ghost Colours a "Best New Music" designation and named it the fourth greatest record of 2008. Allmusic's K. Ross Hoffman also praised the album, writing "To be sure, In Ghost Colours is a triumph of craftsmanship rather than vision -- a synthesis and refinement of existing sounds rather than anything dramatically new and original -- but it is an unalloyed triumph nonetheless, and one of the finest albums of its kind."

In a less positive review, Slant's Dave Hughes criticized the album for being unfocused. In another mixed review, Entertainment Weekly's Youyoung Lee called the album "uneven", writing "...for every pump-your-fist gem like 'Hearts on Fire,' there's a lifeless cut like the clanky 'Silver Thoughts,' which feels like a sonic hangover."