If anyone considered Lemon Jelly to be a flash in the pan, Nick Franglen and Fred Deakin's second full-length chillout album picks up where the gorgeous chillfest that was lemonjelly.ky left off and shatters any such wobbly illusions.

From opener Elements, with a shimmering introduction and positive, off-kilter beats, it's hard not to be drawn in. Then there's the beautiful single Spacewalk, guaranteed to make you smile.

There are dramatic moments too - none more so than on Rambling Man. Huge, deep, sweeping strings sit over a Doppler effect of passing racing car engines - or at least that's what it sounds like - before a tinkling guitar track and samples kick in. For scale it trumps even the finer moments on Air's last album, 10,000Mhz Legend.

Part of the record's charm is down to the choice of samples, including a nursery rhyme song (Nice Weather For Ducks) and an astronaut (Spacewalk). A childlike innocence pervades through the twinkling piano loops, creating something that comes close to The Orb at their fluffiest, but retaining its own unique character along the way.

It's a curiously eccentric record too - Nice Weather For Ducks is distinctly unhinged, but hilarious for it. The enthusiasm for music-making on show here makes sure that even die-hard cynics must nod and be impressed.

Every one of the eight tracks stand out as perfect, whimsical ditties in their own right. Buy this album - and smile widely, as you wonder at how you got through life without it.

share:  Facebook | Digg | del.icio.us | more

from the archive Damon Albarn INTERVIEW Graham Coxon INTERVIEW Alex James INTERVIEW