Previously ambient dub specialists, with their third record,
Natural Selection,
Sounds From the Ground moved into a style of downtempo electronica perfectly matched to the chillout crowd then in ascendance. Although mildly opportunistic, the record shows Messrs. Woolfson and Jones are quite adept at crafting earthy downbeat with plenty of warm keys and an aura of the sublime. The opener, "Lean on Me" featuring Colein, is especially nice, a languorous piece of female-fronted electronic pop with jazzy keys and a lazy, shuffling beat. A feature for drum'n'bass chatter
General Levy is solid as well, though a few of the other vocalists on tap ruin the tracks they appear on, like the belabored
Björk impressions of Nicola Hitchcock and the childish (literally) spoken-word piece by Aine on "Inner World" (granted, she's noticeably better on the sunny trip-pop of "New Day"). Like
Zero 7 composing for a car commercial (though they probably already have),
Natural Selection aims more for a crossover pop audience, but does hit its target precisely. ~ John Bush