Scared to commit

In an early 2012 that has seen a glut of electro-influenced, female-fronted pop releases, it’s easy to overlook “Ghostory,” the third full-length by School of Seven Bells.

The record feels almost afraid to commit to its strengths, burying its shoegazing guitar, ambient accents and breakbeat drums beneath Alejandra Deheza’s vocals, which are so high in the mix it would be reasonable to assume she borrowed Adele’s producer.

Fortunately, the vocal hooks on “Ghostory” are as good as any School of Seven Bells has ever written. Opener “The Night” and vaguely occult lead single “Lafaye” are huge, danceable numbers that have more in common with the Sisters of Mercy than Grimes.

It’s the infectiousness of songs like those — not the misplaced ambition of songs like eight-and-a-half minute closer “When You Sing” — that might keep the album from being lost in the shuffle.