Electronic. This is essentially optimistic, hopeful stuff. The beats are clean, but not so clean as to be soulless or hostile. They can also be damn catchy. Songs tend to have lots of little “movements,” distinct moments when a new melody will enter or two melodies will fuse together, which kept my interest and made the album easy listening. Don’t look for profundity in the lyrics but the lyrics aren’t embarrassing either. Just little sound bytes to keep the songs pulsing forward. Propulsive, catchy. Friendly.

Recommended: 2, 3, 10

1) “About Time” (3:41): Clean beats, crooning, simple vocals. Pretty low-key.
2) “Full Circle” (4:53): Really ratchets up the catchiness. More crooning. Funky syncopations. Instrumental for the first 1:30, then not. Love this.
3) “Knife to the Heart” (4:08): Beeping and booping at the start with some faint pulses. Then it tightens up in a cool way. Kind of sounds Jamaican to me, I don’t know. Instrumental.
4) “Call it Love (If You Want To)” (4:27): Snappy beat, airy male voice. A higher register.
5) “Beginning at the End” (2:56): Focused introduction opens up into a wider soundscape. An odd, compelling little song. I wish it had been developed a bit more.
6) “Shards” (3:07): Beat doesn’t drop in until about the 1:30 mark.
7) “Your Two Faces” (4:09): Reminds me of Tron for the first ninety seconds. Then it cleans up some of its clutter and evolves into something quite nice.
8) “Crystallize” (4:53): Synths get to be a bit much for me here, violently pulsing in and out, but I can see the appeal for someone else.
9) “Miyajima” (1:38): Big dreamy pulses with piano arpeggiating up and down. More of a transition track into 10.
10) “The Waiting” (4:29): Lyrics do a lot of good work here. Chill beats, quiet mood. Discontented introspection. Driving late at night.

--Mr. Tumnus