While Bellingham's Idiot Pilot have been busy writing and recording their follow-up to 2007's Wolves, Daniel Anderson—the guitar-and-laptop-wielding half of the electronic screamo duo—has found time to start a solo project called the Ghost and the Grace, and he's making his live debut (and releasing his album Behold! A Pale Horse) at El Corazón this Friday night.

Behold! is unlike anything Anderson has done with Idiot Pilot. With strings, banjo, layers of vocals, a plethora of percussion (hand claps galore!), and subtle electronic flourishes, he experiments with lighter sounds that echo orchestral songwriter Sufjan Stevens and the peppiness of Photo Album–era Death Cab for Cutie.

"What Have I Done?" (my favorite track) starts with a snappy piano line and sounds like just another sunny gem, until Anderson starts in with morbid lyrics about being someone's hearse. Halfway through, the song evolves into a swirl of repetitive and swelling horns and chimes, while he cries, "Oh my God, what have I done?" over and over again.

Anderson mans all the instruments on Behold! himself, but for the record-release show (which also features a performance by former Dolour frontman Shane Tutmarc, btw), he'll be performing with members of In Praise of Folly and Lands Farther East.

As for Idiot Pilot, Anderson says that album three is completely written, but that they'll continue to take their time in the editing and recording process, so fans will have to continue waiting for an official release. In the meantime, the Ghost and the Grace will be a nice distraction.

Thurs Sept 10: Endfest: Blink-182, Weezer, Taking Back Sunday at White River Amphitheatre, 4 pm, $20–$74.

Fri Sept 11: The Ghost and the Grace, Shane Tutmarc, Zoe Muth and the Lost High Rollers at El Corazón, 8 pm, $8.

Sat Sept 12: HEALTH, Past Lives, Pictureplane at the Vera Project, 7:30 pm, $11 ($10 w/ club card).