While
Kosheen took drum'n'bass to the mainstream club and
Pendulum twisted it into something approaching fist-pumping, arena rock, Ror-Shak want to become the
Zero 7 or
Röyksopp of drum'n'bass. Members
DJ DB and Shaun Morris bring the genre into the lounge on their debut album,
Deep, a laid-back and often spacy effort that works best in the background thanks to some cringe-worthy words. Luckily, these producers have great taste in vocalists with Naked Music veteran
Lisa Shaw supplying the soul while
David Lynch's muse
Julee Cruise supplies the previously mentioned spaciness.
Morningwood frontwoman
Chantal Claret does an excellent job on this slowly building cover of
the Cure's "A Forest," but it's the lesser known
Wendy Starland who comes in first with her jazzy,
Billie Holiday inspired voice gracing two cuts. Ror-Shak's rich, warm soundscapes and their infectious drum'n'bass rhythms would be just as listenable as instrumentals, so even with all the beautiful voices,
Deep would be better off stripped of some hippy, trippy, and trite words. ~ David Jeffries