According to it's generic-MP3-player classification this album is "New Age"- which gives immediate cause for concern in my book. Thankfully the expected dolphin noises are absent (though "Fading Glow" is still under investigation for possible bird noises) and instead we are immediately immersed into a symphony of ambient music.
Symphony is certainly an appropriate word. Whilst any music of this trip-hop/ambient leaning will immediately draw Moby comparisons this album is far less song-based than Moby's work and the music instead belies it's composers classical leanings. Each track feels much more like a movement, or a part-movement of one long piece. The final track even reprises elements of the opening track and so if listening to the CD on repeat you can barely tell the end from the beginning!
It appears the watch-word is subtlety. There are light drum loops, glistening acoustic guitars, synth parts that come and go, backward blips and bleeps that never dominate and it often feels like you're just catching a sound on it's rise of fall. On the opening few tracks especially there is a definite feel off the tracks ebbing and flowing very softly. At it's best in "Opalescent" it's almost as much about what you can't quite hear as what you can.
The downside to this approach is that sometimes the more conventional tracks can feel lacking. "Cerelean" and "Lost in Thought" carve a good groove but seem to be missing a part - possibly even a vocal line. The other major criticism of this album is that it sometimes plays to the cliché's a little too easily- "Inner Peace" is prime offender and feels like it would be better suited to Pan Pipe Moods or the Titanic soundtrack. The tracks often walk a fine line between ambience and wallpaper music- and Hopkins doesn't always come down on the right side of the line.
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Even amongst the more mediocre though there are a still a number of good tracks not least the almost reggae/dub feel of Grace with it's soulful slide guitar. Best of all though is "Apparition" - exhibiting Hopkins piano-playing skills to the full it truly is a beautifully haunting track that would not feel out of place on the American Beauty soundtrack. It is certainly a long way from his meagre beginnings playing piano to ladies who lunch- but it's a very gentle journey.
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