Last summer, Ryan Olson and Channy Casselle – whose previous collaboration, Gayngs' 2010 LP Relayted, was a mesmerizing slab of cheesed-out neo-soul that featured Bon Iver – wrote Give You The Ghost in only a month's time. Quickly, a band was assembled and sent into the studio, fully fleshing out the forlorn, ruminative R&B experiment, and Give You the Ghost was born. The songs are of a piece with Olson and Casselle's previous work, yet slower, more tender – less sharp tongue and more soft cheek. Casselle's focused, tender voice cascades over dense fields of minor-key electronics, backed by with funked-up bass and a swarm of percussion. It’s sound of heartbreak and celebration happening simultaneously.

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• Photos: Random Notes

“1999”

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.