Ambient/soft electronic. An ambitious album from a veteran English ambient/house producer. There is a cameo appearances from Thom Yorke, some spoken word, and lots of flavors of synth. Production value is extremely high, and many of the tracks build stunning ambient worlds. It kind of reminds of Space Odyssey 2001, in its ambition, its length (well over an hour), its perfectionism, and (of course) its synth spaciness. The textures are really smooth. Things fade in and out and leave ripples behind them. Synth harmonies orbit some central melody--or sometimes nothing at all. Lots to like here, and I find that I’m liking it more with repeated listens.

Recommended: 5, 16, 7, 2, 14, 1, 15, 4, 9, 11

1) * “?” (6:04): Sustained rumble to start. Great ambient. Kind of reminds me of a refrigerator running, or a helicopter flying. Guitar plays a spare melody.
2) ** “Give It Your Choir” (4:26): Carbonated opening settles into a languid electronic soundscape. Male choral-style voices. Reminds me of Panda Bear. Everything submerged underwater at the end.
3) “Infrared” (2:04): Radar scanning a landscape. Military radio voice. Almost establishes a beat. Flows smoothly into next track.
4) * “Falling” (3:17): Videogame-style synth climbing a scale. Gradually builds up a rich counterpoint, then fades to nothing.
5) *** “Beautiful People” (6:02): This track features Thom Yorke. Catchy flute at the beginning loops into itself. Straightforward 4/4 beat, synth flares. Thom’s voice bent out of shape. Sudden end. Wonderful.
6) “Where Do They Go, The Butterflies” (3:26): Kind of a swirl of synth pulses.
7) ** “Sad Alron” (2:37): Quavering synth, little hopeful pulses. Breathtaking.
8) “You Wash My Soul” (5:29): Acoustic guitar. Lightly altered female voice. More lyrically focused: “You wash my soul.”
9) * “Cycles of 9” (4:01): Organ pulses. Strings in the background. Like a series of whole notes.
10) “Hi Red” (1:28): Highly altered voice saying hi to different colors. Kind of a novelty track, I’m sure someone can find a use for it.
11) * “Ems” (8:20): Like looking at a cluster of insects with a foghorn blowing in the background. I don’t know, how does anyone describe this stuff? Creamy, slightly spacey ambient.
12) “The Blinds Cage” (5:03): Mostly a spoken word piece with slightly campy sound effects. Melodramatic lyrics.
13) “Dawn of the North” (1:34): Notes being bent up and down.
14) * “Khufu” (3:23): Quavering, gentle, like watching sunrise on an alien world. Gets eerie and dark at the end.
15) * “Rebel Angels” (3:08): Bouncing, distant beat. Off-balance feeling subsides into peaceful quiet.
16) ** “Under the Sun” (6:31): 19th century English woman’s voice chopped up to provide a stunning atmosphere. The sound gets a bit watery.

-- Mr Tumnus