Panic of Looking

Lyricist: Rick Holland.
A six-track EP, Panic of Looking continues the collaboration of producer Brian Eno and poet Rick Holland, with similarly intriguing results as on the earlier Drums Between the Bells. No collection of outtakes or castoffs, the album is just as mesmerizing as the best moments on Drums Between the Bells. As before, Holland provides all the words but very few of the vocals. Meanwhile, Eno provides all of the music and several of the vocals, including the best track (the title song, with gently cascading bells and a precisely ordered voicing of Holland's poem). The music is even more isolationist and spare than Eno/Holland's previous work. In all, it represents a beautiful set of ambience from one of the form's masters. ~ John Bush