Holy Ghost!

After making hip-hop with <a href="spotify:artist:0kC4yh9ZqS25UoGxpSNWLp">Automato</a>, New York City natives <a href="spotify:artist:7jBVVnSTb10YfTjrw1SjbL">Alex Frankel</a> and Nick Millhiser turned to electronic post-disco and synth pop sounds with Holy Ghost!, supported by the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22DFA%22">DFA</a> label. From 2007 through 2016, the multi-instrumentalist duo released seven singles and two full-lengths for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22DFA%22">DFA</a>, namely the part-compilation Holy Ghost! (2007) and Dynamics (2013), and never shied away from making their early-'80s club inspirations known, whether conveyed through an homage to <a href="spotify:artist:0yNLKJebCb8Aueb54LYya3">New Order</a>'s video for "Confusion" or a cover of <a href="spotify:artist:1DXylZlWbVvlckNqwvjTEt">Ministry</a>'s "I Wanted to Tell Her." Since their lengthy period with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22DFA%22">DFA</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7jBVVnSTb10YfTjrw1SjbL">Frankel</a> and Millhiser have helped reactivate the classic N.Y.C. disco label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22West+End+Records%22">West End Records</a> with their third album, Work (2019).

Friends since attending elementary school on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, <a href="spotify:artist:7jBVVnSTb10YfTjrw1SjbL">Alex Frankel</a> and Nick Millhiser were members of <a href="spotify:artist:0kC4yh9ZqS25UoGxpSNWLp">Automato</a>, a rap group whose last releases, including a self-titled album released in 2003, were produced by the DFA's <a href="spotify:artist:03XnX4XEVVtZNUBSdUlzsB">James Murphy</a> and Tim Goldsworthy. After <a href="spotify:artist:0kC4yh9ZqS25UoGxpSNWLp">Automato</a> dissolved, <a href="spotify:artist:03XnX4XEVVtZNUBSdUlzsB">Murphy</a> and Goldsworthy encouraged <a href="spotify:artist:7jBVVnSTb10YfTjrw1SjbL">Frankel</a> and Millhiser to continue pushing toward dance music. Push they did. Multi-instrumentalists <a href="spotify:artist:7jBVVnSTb10YfTjrw1SjbL">Frankel</a> and Millhiser co-produced the warm and melodic "Hold On" with <a href="spotify:artist:03XnX4XEVVtZNUBSdUlzsB">Murphy</a> and Goldsworthy -- settling on the <a href="spotify:artist:0Z4CzYz9ieK8q9XiVMPkW5">Bar-Kays</a>-referencing alias Holy Ghost! just before the pressing of the 12" -- and issued it on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22DFA%22">DFA</a> label in 2007. Second single "I Will Come Back," a joint release from <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22DFA%22">DFA</a> and Mountain Dew's <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Green+Label+Sound%22">Green Label Sound</a>, didn’t come out until 2009 but made an impact with its video, a remake of the clip for <a href="spotify:artist:0yNLKJebCb8Aueb54LYya3">New Order</a>'s "Confusion," a snapshot of New York's club scene (with producer <a href="spotify:artist:5YzGCkGA6XEGKs2C9KRVKA">Arthur Baker</a> reprising his role from the original). The four-track Static on the Wire EP followed in 2010 and continued to display the duo's uncanny ability to evoke the colorful, layered sound of early- to mid-'80s club music. A self-titled album in 2011 included some of their previously released songs, as well as a guest appearance from <a href="spotify:artist:24hJWbo98sH84tb0nkeaqy">Michael McDonald</a> on the closing "Some Children."

By then, Holy Ghost! had also become one of the more prolific remix teams. They had reworked -- in some cases technically covered -- tracks by <a href="spotify:artist:0SwO7SWeDHJijQ3XNS7xEE">MGMT</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3OsRAKCvk37zwYcnzRf5XF">Moby</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4EENT7N7rCBwrddM3s0vFS">Cut Copy</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1xU878Z1QtBldR7ru9owdU">Phoenix</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7gG6LkU3pCSQmCIPR4aSBt">the Juan MacLean</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:03XnX4XEVVtZNUBSdUlzsB">James Murphy</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:066X20Nz7iquqkkCW6Jxy6">LCD Soundsystem</a>. Additionally, for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Green+Label+Sound%22">Green Label Sound</a>, they updated <a href="spotify:artist:1DXylZlWbVvlckNqwvjTEt">Ministry</a>'s "I Wanted to Tell Her" with vocals from fellow <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22DFA%22">DFA</a> figures <a href="spotify:artist:0xDT2bQJYfy8CYs8JlmH3B">Nancy Whang</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7gG6LkU3pCSQmCIPR4aSBt">Juan Maclean</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:0xDT2bQJYfy8CYs8JlmH3B">Whang</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5EF80OgEZjCLwEoii0RlEp">Kelley Polar</a> were among several contributors to Holy Ghost!'s comparatively band-like second album, Dynamics, released on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22DFA%22">DFA</a> in 2013. Apart from the 2016 EP Crime Cutz, <a href="spotify:artist:7jBVVnSTb10YfTjrw1SjbL">Frankel</a> and Millhiser kept Holy Ghost! on ice for a few years, and resumed on the reactivated legendary disco label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22West+End%22">West End</a> with Anxious, a four-track EP featuring the title track, a mix by disco innovator <a href="spotify:artist:6xDW6TfPeBAiq1gmqMJnM6">Tom Moulton</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7jBVVnSTb10YfTjrw1SjbL">Frankel</a> and Millhiser's own remix of "Spirit of Sunshine," the Chuck Davis Orchestra's 1977 <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22West+End%22">West End</a> A-side. The EP was released in 2018, just ahead of the documentary Chef Flynn, for which the duo provided the score. Work, their third LP, arrived on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22West+End%22">West End</a> the next year. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi