LISTEN: "Throw It All Away" WIN REAL From: The Garden BUY IT

[by Andy Hermann]

It should have been clear to fans of Zero 7's first two albums that the group's chief architects, producer/songwriters Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker, were too smart and too talented to go on making mellow, electronic soul music forever -- never mind how amazingly good they are at it.

Still, there's a nervous moment at the beginning of their third album, The Garden, when new vocalist Jose Gonzalez's reedy voice floats in over a soft bed of gurgling synths and dreamy acoustic guitars -- my god!

Zero 7 are making '70s space-rock!

And it's true -- unmistakable tinges of Pink Floyd, Mike Oldfield, and even more mainstream "soft rock" acts of the '70s like Steely Dan and (shudder) Alan Parsons dominate the sonic palette on The Garden . But here's the good news: It works brilliantly, and reveals a brighter, more playful side to Zero 7 that's a welcome, maybe even necessary, change of pace from the deliberately understated tone of their first two albums.

Obviously the biggest change is in the vocals -- only Sia Furler returns from the first two albums, which makes sense since she was always the most pop-oriented singer among the band's old vocal trio of Mozez, Sia and Sophie Barker. She takes to these more uptempo arrangements like a duck to water, sounding more confident both lyrically and vocally on whimsical tracks like "You're My Flame" and "The Pageant of the Bizarre."

Joining her is Swedish/Argentinean singer Jose Gonzalez, whose voice and songwriting sensibilities make him a perfect match for Zero 7's '70s-oriented sound -- he's pitched somewhere between the smoothly detached folk-rock of America and the slightly schmaltzy warmth of a Carole King or James Taylor. He fits in so well that Binns and Hardaker elected to remake a song, "Crosses," from Gonzalez's fine 2005 solo album, Veneer.

Anyone who ever accused Zero 7 of being mere "coffeehouse electronica" -- background music for the highbrow set -- will be forced to reconsider upon hearing The Garden. It completely redefines what this band is capable of, without abandoning the sophisticated, easy-listening vibe that made their first two albums so alluring.


July 5, 2006

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