Chilling out has never been so lucrative. A whole relaxation industry has built up in 2001, with anyone who has dared to drop the bpms being herded onto successive and progressively more mind-numbing collections.
Lamb duo Andy Barlow and Louise Rhodes are no strangers to the odd bit of the comedown pound themselves, and now with the bonus of Nicole Kidman trilling a couple of lines from their effervescent 'Gorecki' builder in Moulin Rouge, and soundtracking Audi adverts, it seems they might've finally arrived.
This third album repositions the duo back in mellow central after the convention-rejecting dark jazz odyssey of 1999's 'Fear Of Fours'. 'What Sound' returns to the lusciousness of their self titled debut, without losing any of the adventuring edges. Tracks such as 'Sweetheart' and the sweaty slap of 'Sweet' operate in a futuristic funk level, but it's the hypnotic 'This Could Be Heaven', the shimmering 'Just Is' and single 'Gabriel' where the duo are at their best, building from almost Talk Talk levels of fragility up to heart-swelling rushes of sensuousness.
'What Sound' could easily place Lamb alongside Dido and Zero 7 on this year's coffee tables, but also sets them apart as a unique, ever challenging outfit who'll be worth following long after we've come out of corporate chillout coma. Nice.
