It has been three years since the disbanding of Orbital, moniker of the legendary fraternal duo, Paul and Phil Hartnoll, and both have simultaneously chosen this summer to come out with their first major individual releases. Whereas Phil Hartnoll’s collaboration with Nick Smith under the name Long Range seems to have gone under the radar, Paul, who has also provided tracks for the Wipeout Pure compilation has been quickly embraced and with good reason too. His success lies mainly in the fact that he does not attempt to revive Orbital’s distinctive sound instead, distancing himself as much as possible from it with an album featuring a full orchestra and 32 piece choir.

This contrast is especially apparent in songs like ‘The Unsteady Waltz’ and the album’s concluding song, ‘Dust Motes’ featuring the unexpected melancholic voice of a solo violin which culminates in a fugue of orchestral instruments enriched with an atmospheric Danny Elfman inspired choral arrangement.

Hartnoll tames down his cinematic, soundscaped enthusiasm in pop infused songs like ‘Nothing else Matters’ and ‘For Silence’ striking a nice balance between Lianne Hall’s vocals and the string saturated chords that explode into the song after the verse.
That’s not to say that this album doesn’t cater for those of the electro/dance inclined who will find solace with the electronica haven of ‘Patchwork guilt’ and songs like the tenacious and brilliantly noisy ‘Aggro’. Along with this ‘Please’ with its imploring vocals provided by the Cure’s Robert Smith helps to inject that bit of aggression and danceable rhythm into this otherwise acoustic but very impressive debut release.

Shauna O'Brien
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