Things are moving quickly for Static Phantoms, the newly formed outfit led by Kansas City musicians Dedric Moore and Krysztof Nemeth. The duo recently announced their debut album, Bathed in a Blue Light, and shared its title track last month — and today they’ve reappeared with a new single.

A supernatural flash of new wave and dream pop, “Ghostwalk” takes the torch from genre titans Tears for Fears and New Order, or perhaps their more contemporary counterparts like Small Black, DIIV and the Horrors. While introductions aren’t always easy, listening to Static Phantoms feels like meeting an old friend for the first time.

Nemeth and Moore’s contributions to the Missouri music scene probably has something to do with that — as they’ve become familiar faces over the years in the Republic Tigers, Monta at Odds and Emmaline Twist. But the new project offers something different, pairing Moore’s production prowess with the exciting debut of Nemeth on lead vocals.

“ ‘Ghostwalk’ harkens back to the sounds of the ’80s, the pinnacle of the last Cold War,” Nemeth exclusively told The Big Takeover. “It was a fertile time for music that was both optimistic and anxious about the state of the world and where we fit in it; a sound that is both hopeful for something good and nervous if it’s not.”

He continued: “That’s what makes ‘Ghostwalk’ so timely, with its butterfly synths, its fluid bass, its chorus-y guitars all posed against a nervous vocal that’s just not sure if what he’s seeing is a ghost of a former lover or the specter of impending annihilation.”

The sparse lyrics seem to be little more than a trifle: A man walks into a room and passes by a woman. But is one — or both of them? — a ghost? The airy instrumentation wrapped around the song entrances the listener who, ultimately, asks themself if those questions even matter. Like magicians, Static Phantoms take a deceptively profound concept, shroud it in sparkling synth — and lead the listener to a place they never would have imagined at the start of the song.

Enjoy the Big Takeover’s exclusive premiere of “Ghostwalk” right here:

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