Following the near-covert release of
Parallel Life, lynchpin Alex McGowan and vocalist Regina Dannhof return to quietly blip on the chill-out radar with as much newfound '60s nerve as they can fit into the confines of post-
Portishead spy-cool. The effect, much to traditionalists' chagrin, is the quiet knocks and wraithlike vocals of everyday trip-hop newly devoid of artificial, distanced vacancy, permitting genuine compassion to lead the genre away from the city spires and urban alleyways toward greener pastures. So relax. In the end, it are tracks like "Upstairs" that clarify everything -- a collage of spangly
John Squire jams heard through a sibilant fog that would help even the hardiest of serial killers to construct slow valentines for imaginary lovers.