People Press Play are not so much a stand-alone group as they are a slight shift of identity for the long-running Danish ambient trio
Future 3. By adding the wispy-voiced singer
Sara Savery, they become
People Press Play. Oddly, however,
Savery only appears on six of the album's ten tracks, and on two of those, she's a minimal presence. For example, on the chattering, glitchy "Before Me," she sings a single line repeatedly, her voice eventually split, dublike, into an overdubbed, contrapuntal chorus.
Savery's reduced presence on the album is a bit of a shame, since her delicate, breathy vocals are the band's most appealing element. Without them,
People Press Play are essentially just another indie electronic trio favoring ghostly, evanescent keyboard lines, downtempo beats, and atmosphere taking charge over melodic substance. At their most appealing, on the chiming synth pop lullaby "These Days" and the alluring, hypnotic single "Hanging On,"
People Press Play fuse
Kraftwerk,
Múm, and
Portishead into attractive new shapes, but too much of the album is devoted to featureless, droning soundscapes. ~ Stewart Mason