In the Sun

Personnel: Christian Eigner (drums).
Audio Mixer: Foppe Talman.
Always one to surprise, Tim Simenon's Bomb the Bass project dominated dancefloors in 1987 with the kinetic, sample-heavy single "Beat Dis" (a like-minded and worthy challenger to the massively successful "Pump up the Volume") but here, the 2013 BTB offer a cool, calm soundtrack for cruising the spaceways with wistful lyrics and bittersweet moods. Even if that sounds a bit like the 2010 release Back to Light, this one coasts along in a much more minimal manner, sometimes fading into the background with the highlight single "Wandering Star" and the closing dream called "Cold Outside," both of them aptly titled. On the other hand, singer and album co-producer Paul Conboy helps make "Time Falls Apart" a strict-tempo, funk workout with his wistful soul singing on top, but it is the rickety rhythm (think Wire during the '80s) and Radiohead-like lyrics of "We Are All Lost" that threaten to pull this album out of the electronica section and into the indie bin. Like Back to Light, which was heavily influenced by co-producer and techno great Gui Boratto, In the Sun is heavily influenced by Conboy with much more singing and many more guitars coming into the picture, and as such, there are many more "songs" than usual. Those looking for an indie-meets-Underworld album will embrace the set as Simenon's unexpected turn still yields great results, but one has to wonder what a Bomb the Bass fan expects at this point, because this is certainly unlike anything else in the project's already varied back catalog. ~ David Jeffries