MIDNIGHT CHOIR, THE - English Ghosts (Sealed) (2CD)

A collection featuring the Sheffield post-punk group's previously unreleased third album and a bonus disc comprised of a general selection, including some rarities, spanning their career, plus a booklet of sleevenotes. Arriving from a period in music when there were countless such groups up and down the UK, and around the world, who'd initially been inspired by punk but then attempted to channel the energy and attitude into sometimes very different musical shapes, The Midnight Choir began as an idea of Simon Hinkler's of Artery. Leading other members of said group mostly pseudonymously into this new guise, alongside the late Dave Loukes from Quite Unnerving on vocals, the group themselves went on to cement links with Pulp and The Mission through the comings and goings of their personnel. Much like Artery themselves, there was more to The Midnight Choir than a simple doffing of the cap to the Banshees or Joy Division or whoever else at the time had done so much of the groundwork for groups similarly inspired but wanting to break away from the trappings of punk. The group were possessed of strong abilities to hone their craft to the point they had the potential to reach a far broader audience without losing the chemistry they clearly had at the outset. Shifting easily from a ravaged monochromatic sound to one rife with different hues, The Midnight Choir operated in that space when post-punk music took on new forms as independent music came into greater dominance throughout the 1980s. Like many others, they slipped through the cracks without really deserving to. It is for this reason, as well as the music itself of course, that this collection is not only long overdue, but more than justified.