Having played an important part in the development of drum and bass in the 1990s, Marc Mac and Dego MacFarlane used the success of the Mercury nominated Two Pages album to move into more exotically scored, jazzier affairs that culminated with their swooning cover of Minnie Riperton's Les Fleurs. Subsequent album Play With The Changes has occupied them all that time since.

With that comes the danger that they've spent too much time with the record and overproduced it. That thought is momentarily extinguished by the brightly toned Morning Child with which the album opens, a crisp string section backing Carina Andersson's winsome vocals. But by the end of the album it's back. The feeling is that, superbly produced as this record is, the polish is just too thickly applied.

The potentially edgy, jazzy feel to some tracks is therefore masked by its orchestral sheen. The cover of Stevie Wonder's Superwoman is strangely lacking in funk or verve. Gonna Give It Up features a low range vocal that, though pleasant enough, doesn’t offer much in the way of energy.

In addition the use of well over a dozen guests threatens to make the album sound like more of a compilation. Face makes two endearing contributions in Look Inside and Stoke Up The Fire, while the ever reliable Ursula Rucker threatens to steal the show with Awakening. The uniting feature is the 4Hero beats, at their most effective when crisply splicing up the orchestration. But when they fail to do that, the album plods.

If this sounds over-critical, it's an indication of the high standards 4Hero have set themselves in previous years. Perhaps now the long wait for an album is over, they can follow up in double quick time with a record of more spontaneous invention.

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