In order to avoid a half-hearted listen to, and review of, Ceremony’s Not Tonight EP for the sake of riding indie blog trends and churning out a trash review for its April release, I instead entertained a six-month long affair with it. I listened to it in the car. I listened to it in my house. I listened to it before drifting to sleep on hot, hazy nights when an endless deep indigo masked the stars. And when the air finally turned cool and spilled over the sill into my quiet room, I, pulling the covers to my chin, decided it was time at last. At least, that’s my excuse. Really, I’m just a busy S.O.B. Did I say busy? Lazy.

At any rate, it should please Custom Made Music darlings Ceremony, and Custom Made Music itself, to have someone raving about the music six months after its release. That’s a long time in Internet years.

As alluring as their debut Rocket Fire, Ceremony’s EP Not Tonight is a seamless continuation of their full sound. Its title track and CD opener propelled me across four songs steeped in lush depths that make their music as danceable as it is brooding. Blending synth beats with atmospheric guitars, Ceremony form a unique sound that is instantly recognizable as their own, though they pay homage to elements of JAMC, New Order, and Medicine along the way.

Not Tonight‘s standout track – positioned nicely in contrast to the other rugged tracks that make Ceremony’s music aggressive if not entirely intimidating – is “Dreams Stripped Away.” Sounding more like a liminal new wave song the 1980’s inadvertently denied, its fuzzed-out edges are far more sensual than Ceremony’s usual head-nodding/fist-clenching songs and balances the EP perfectly between dance and darkness.

You can buy Ceremony’s EP Not Tonight through Custom Made Music.