Released in 1985,
Spirits is the transitional record in
Ian Boddy's catalog. Indeed, its five tracks are split neatly down the middle, with the first half of the album continuing with the synth pop sounds of some of his earlier records -- the
Ultravox-like "Living in a Ritual" even has vocals, a rare occurrence in
Boddy's musical world -- while the two lengthy tracks on the latter half of the album, "Spirits" and the almost Gregorian-sounding "Lamalode," prefigure the ambient electronica that would be his primary focus from this point forward. The album's pivot point, "The Sentinel," splits the difference; more tightly structured and with a somewhat harsher edge to its synthesizer settings than the floaty tunes that followed, it recalls the progressive synth rock that
Richard Pinhas and
Heldon began exploring in the mid-'70s. Although the occasionally tinny mid-'80s sound dates
Spirits rather firmly in its time and place, it's still an appealing, sometimes gripping listen. ~ Stewart Mason