1. Fearmakers
2. Damascene Moments
3. 3am
4. Snakecharmer
5. Do Some Good
6. Bad Machines
7. Hikikomori
8. Pact
9. Fading
10. Dreaming Again
11. Stars Became The Sun
12. Venom
13. Margin For Madness
14. Eloge De L'Amour
Craig Morrison and Graeme Reedie must
be two of the hardest working producers in dance
music. In the space of 18 months they've put out Staring
Into Space, the impressive Darkroom Dubs mix compilation and now this, their third album.
Save Our Souls adheres to the boys' stylistic
blueprint of atmospheric house music that uses a full four
to the floor beat and solid basslines to support the
warm, spacey textures above.
This gives the music a nocturnal, cinematic
quality, evoking images of driving under starry skies
at the height of summer. And while these beats might
not be pushing the boundaries of invention, they are
consistently good the whole way through.
Instrumental grooves dominate, which is a shame
given one of their best tracks from the previous
album, Feeling Blue, featured a great vocal. It also
removes a crucial element of variety from their music.
That said, all these tunes will sound great in a dark
club, vocals or not.
There's even room for a decent flute solo, not a
known quantity in house music. Brian Molley
gets the honour on Snakecharmer, making his enchanting
sound part of the overall picture rather than
overindulging in the manner soloists so often do.
Snakecharmer is one of the softer grooves on the
album, but Silicone Soul sound best when they toughen
the beats up. This boosts Margin For Madness, where a
darker keyboard strain threatens in the middle
foreground. Better still is As The Stars Become The
Sun, building impressively from a straightforward slap
bass riff to take in layer upon layer of string
orchestration, working through to a formidable
climax.
Some of the tracks are musical wallpaper when
listened to on the home stereo, which isn't meant as a
criticism - merely an observation that they blend in
well as up-tempo chill out tracks. Put them on in a
club and it's a different story, with those beats and
bass a rock solid foundation.
If they haven't already done so Silicone Soul
should be branching into film or game soundtracks;
such is their aptitude for atmospheric house music.
Even so soon on the back of their second album, the
third is a solid achievement.