Faithless
Sunday 8PM
(Arista)
Almost out of nowhere, Faithless appeared about 2 years ago with their album Reverence and stormed dancefloors all over the world with their song, "Insomnia." Powered by big orchestra hits, a nice hard beat, and some smooth rap-like vocals, it was infectious and hard not to like. Fueled on the popularity of that one song (and a couple other decent singles from the album), they sold well over a million copies and surprised especially themselves judging by the liner notes of their newest disc Sunday 8PM. While a lot of electronic artists maintain their enigmatic status, Faithless is a group (yes, they tour) that seems sincere and even modest about their huge sales.
Although their music is electronic, it rides kind of a fine line of the genre, falling somewhere in between the light sounds and ethnic influences of groups like Enigma, but definitely having moments of high energy dancefloor fuel. They're also a group who is more like a band in the fact that they use a lot of standard instrumentation blended into the tracks, as well as having lyrics to most of their songs. This album is no different, starting out with the mellow, "The Garden" before leading into the slow-tempo jams "Bring My Family Back" and "Postcards." Both of them once again feature smooth sort of rapping by Maxi Jazz and are catchy in their own way. The album barn-burner this time is the 8-minute track called, "God Is A DJ" and it's as catchy as "Insomnia" off their last album. While the lyrics are a little secular, it still works on a dancefloor level and really roles once the beat kicks in. The album finishes up with some more of the same laid-back vocal-led tracks like the beginning of it featured, some of them introducing a new female singer named Rachael Brown.
Basically, if you liked their last outing and are into the mellower side of the electronic spectrum, it may be a group to check out. Their lyrics are all on the upliftinig side (although some of them layer on the cheese fairly heavily). It isn't quite as dancy overall as their last release, but it's more cohesive as a full album and band effort. Plus, they get bonus points for featuring former Culture Club member (and current Ministry of Sound DJ) Boy George on lead vocals for a track.
Rating: 6.25
