For the most part,
Alexis Taylor's solo career has been just that --
Taylor making music largely on his own. That changes on
Beautiful Thing, his first album to feature an outside producer. Working with Tim Goldsworthy,
Taylor opens up his music, adding more color and depth without losing any of the intimacy and tenderness of his previous solo albums. "Dreaming Another Life" sets the intention for the rest of
Beautiful Thing, with abstract electronics draped over a subtly insistent beat that only gets more danceable as the song unfolds. Goldsworthy helps
Taylor incorporate electropop into his solo music without sounding too much like
Hot Chip -- which is no small feat, since
Taylor's voice is one of the band's most distinctive aspects. And, as it spans the '90s house-tinged title track, the percussion workout "Suspicious of Me," and the appealingly goofy pop of "Oh Baby,"
Beautiful Thing might even have more range than any of
Taylor's albums with
Hot Chip or on his own. It's certainly more fleshed-out than his previous solo album, Piano, which had lovely moments but was so stark that it sounded like it might evaporate before listeners' ears. This time,
Taylor and Goldsworthy add some welcome texture and movement to introspective songs like "There's Nothing to Hide" and "Out of Time." As
Beautiful Thing unfolds,
Taylor returns to the witty ballads that dominated his previous solo albums, and as always, he finds ways to express intimacy that aren't diaristic on thoughtful, playful songs such as "Deep Cut" and "Roll on Blank Tapes." Kinetic and heartfelt,
Beautiful Thing lives up to its name and delivers some of
Taylor's finest solo music yet. ~ Heather Phares