Hearing ‘The Days Will Get Long Again,’ the haunting first track on the latest Former Ghosts record New Love, at precisely the moment when winter takes hold and the days do indeed start to shrink considerably, helped quickly establish the icy frame of mind one needs to fully process these bleak, chilly songs. There are many records that truly thrive when listened to in a specific season, and Former Ghosts have crafted an album that perfectly embodies the cold, distant harshness of winter, to both its benefit and detriment.

For the cold months do indeed tap into something primal and enduring within our nature, forcing us indoors perhaps more than usual, while also triggering our survival instincts whenever we choose to venture out into nature’s bleak grey landscape. But, after months of unending frigid dreariness, even the heartiest of souls is truly ready for a change in scenery, and we all welcome the inherent promise that spring brings with it. New Love has the wintry chilliness down pat, but unfortunately lacks the needed hints that warmer days are indeed on their way, creating a numb distance between the music and the listener that is never quite bridged, no matter how much these talented musicians try.

Former Ghosts, for those that aren’t aware, is the brainchild of Los Angeles-based electronic composer/producer Freddy Ruppert, who, along with a superlative supporting cast featuring Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu), Nika Roza Danilova (aka Zola Jesus), and Yasmine Kittles (TEARIST), creates a moody, sparsely elegant collection of songs that are emotional and unsettling when they work, and a bit of a monotonous bore when they don’t. For all of the tonal and textural similarities that these songs share, they fluctuate wildly in both their effectiveness and potency. Some songs, like the aforementioned ‘Days,’ as well as the heart-rending despair of ‘New Orleans’ and the dynamic dolefulness of ‘And When You Kiss Me’ all swirl with a modern melancholy that is captivating and coherent. While others, like ‘Until You’re Alone Again,’ ‘Taurean Nature,’ and ‘Bare Bones’ drift by rather languidly, never quite hitting their intended emotional crux, and sounding more like awkward, emotive demos than polished, completed works.

When Danilova and Kittles take over on vocals, though, the songs are generally injected with a spirit and bounce that is mostly lacking when Ruppert sings. So when Kittles shows up during the dreary ‘Winter’s Year,’ the track picks up immediately and floats more than it does along with Ruppert’s mostly unchanging croon. And the propulsive dance-floor beat of ‘Chin Up’ would never quite take off as much as it does without the help of Danilova’s soaring, vigorous vocals. These are truly welcome additions amidst the mechanical, gloomy tone found on the rest of the record, and certainly imbues these numbers with a life and a buoyancy that is mostly absent otherwise.

That’s not to say that this uncomplicated formula works every time, though, as ‘I Am Not What You Want’ drags despite (or perhaps because of) Kittles mostly spoken-word involvement, and even Danilova can’t save the plodding dirge of ‘Only In Time.’ There is an audible, austere grace layered throughout most of New Love, but these songs remain frustratingly inconsistent in both their consequence and their constructs, leaving the listener grasping for more emotion than these tracks provide, and a warmth that ultimately only flickers but never fully alights.