Spangle call Lilli line - ghost is dead (2015)

Spangle call Lilli line has been one of the mainstays of the Japanese indie scene for well over a decade now. After forming in 1998 and releasing their debut self-titled album in 2001, the band has consistently released quality material earning them a high degree of respect amongst J-Indie fans. In the past, the band’s release schedule had been rather fast-paced, sometimes releasing multiple full-lengths in the same year; such as ISOLATION and PURPLE in 2008 as well as VIEW and forest at the head of a river in 2010. Since then, however, the rate of their output has dried up significantly. In fact, ghost is dead marks the band’s first full-length release in over five years, following vocalist Kana Otsubo’s entry into motherhood and bandmates Ken Fujieda & Kiyoaki Sasahara’s work lives becoming more and more time-consuming. Such a renowned band releasing an album after such a long period of inactivity can be both a cause for excitement and for apprehension, so the question naturally begs to be asked - does ghost is dead succeed or fail?