wickedlk

It's been a long weekend! No club night from me this week but a quick spin of the new release from some proper old-timers on the scene!


These guys have been around since the early 90's and have had some serious club smashes along the way. As the title suggests, this album is a fusion of the old and new and while I'm excited by the prospect of new material, it's also a little comforting to see some of those said 'smashes' in there too....


So we start with My Love feat. JES and it's a solid start. This is a dreamy little progressive number and those familiar with JES will instantly recognise her influence on the track. It's one of the new tacks from Airscape and was released last year as a pre-cursor to the main event, I like it and it is certainly well produced with plenty of layers and little off-cuts to keep the listener interested.

L'esperanza should require no introduction because it's an amazing old-schooler! The BPM is now on the roof and Euphoria is high so I'm not really sure about the placement of the next track Faith. I've had to listen to this album a few times and I just don't get this, it disrupts the flow somewhat, the BPM drops and this is a track that while promising much, never really gets going. I think it lacks a little identity but then this could be because of the track preceding it as when listened to as a stand-alone tune, it certainly holds it's own.

Pacific Melody just needs to be checked out....


Feel Alive Like I Do Feat. Jennifer Hershman is a dog of a track. Highly disappointing new material from producers who create such great instrumentals. The vocals dominate and take over and as her voice annoys me somewhat, this is definitely a skipper. There really isn't much underneath the vocals, nothing to move to, no real melody, just boring.

At least Cruising restores the listener's faith once more and gives you something positive to focus on. Pretty old school in its sound, it conveys a sense of urgency. Not really a club tune in my view but more trippy and a one to enjoy by yourself. I really like Not Today Maybe Tomorrow, it has a really relaxing and uplifting vibe. Again I feel that its placement is a little bizarre as it isn't really in keeping with any other track on the album. Drops me down into dreamy state which isn't really where I want to be when Sosei drops. My favourite Airscape track ever! It's uplifting and has a good hook to it, perfect when delivered to an excitable bunch of clubbers.


I have to admit that the last few tracks carry on in the same vein. By that I mean an old track (in this case the excellent, uplifting Amazon Chant) flanked by two new efforts that flatter to deceive and never really get going. I think Saints Ltd illustrates my point. It begins, there's no real variation, no urgency, it just kind of grinds through without ever really capturing my imagination.

Overall, the album is a bit of a disappointment. Yeah, the old tracks still sound amazing but the layout is poor. I think it might have been better to have had two separate discs to split the new and old as the classics really do stand out and put the new tunes in the shade...

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