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There's a problem with most Damon & Naomi albums; they seem to lack something to grasp, almost being too ethereal. As the title implies, this one is more down to earth, or at least the part that covers the majority of the surface. It ripples like the ocean, with a roaring start to Beautiful Close Double before ebbing away into the rest of the album. To say the record flows would be an understatement, even the guitars are liquid, shimmering and waving as they pass by. There are moments of dead calm and sudden squalls of noise, the restlessness surging around on tracks like House Of Glass is juxtaposed with the soothing languidness of Sometimes. The take on While My Guitar Gently Weeps has an aqueous drift that send the record towards its destination, meandering slightly before a rapid surge through The Robot Speaks and onto the title track to wind it all up with oozing E-Bows, bubbling trumpets and sax that float away out of the sea and into the sky. This feels like a more complete record and one that leaves a mark and you can't say fairer than that.

Laurence Arnold
February-April 2005

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