Zero 7 Album: “Simple Things [Import Bonus Tracks]”

Simple Things is quite simply one of the best debuts I've ever heard. The vocals are soft yet purposeful, and the lyrics are often quite inspired. Sia's beautiful voice is ethereal on the simply beautiful "Distractions" & "Destiny". It brought her fantastic Healing Is Difficult out of the doldrums of my CD collection.

It's easy to see where Zero 7 has taken much of their inspiration. There are definite similarities to Air (although it remains easy to tell the two apart) as well as Groove Armada and Fatboy Slim. Don't let the Fatboy Slim confuse you - this is by no means a dance album. This is almost an anti-dance album - the kind of thing you put on when you're very tired / drunk / stressed / angry (delete as appropriate).

It would be impossible to pick out any personal favorites (I love every track), but the real stand out tracks are "In The Waiting Line", "Destiny", "Distractions" and the largely underrated "End Theme".

If you're in a party mood, by all means, don't put this CD on. It will definitely not help build the atmosphere, but makes a perfect comedown disc. It's difficult, however, not to try and vigorously enforce this great new band on all your friends. I can't wait for the next chapter of the story.

Easily addictive, this is my first must-have of 2002. Can't say fairer than that, really...

An immediate entry into my Top 10 of 2001. It didn't seem that way at first -- the opener, "I Have Seen," sounds like an outtake from Cousteau. But the songs build upon each other in perfect logical order, leading up to a powerful climax.

What would happen if your favorite electronica station collided with a smooth-jazz station and careened into a sultry piano lounge on the corner? "Simple Things" might well be the result, but that's hardly doing it justice.

By the time track 11 arrives, the stage has been set. "Likufanele," a remix of South African gospel music, moves the soul in a truly captivating manner. For whatever reason, the song just reached out and grabbed me, even while driving at 60mph, almost to the point of bringing tears to my eyes. Back home with the headphones on, it was even more powerful. An absolute masterpiece.

The proper closer (not counting the two "bonus tracks"), "End Theme," is an appropriate denouement to the climax of "Likufanele," bringing me back to earth after a truly astral journey.

Advice: Don't try to listen to individual songs. Play the whole thing in sequence, and let it take you wherever it wants to take you. A magical record.

Zero 7 have been called the British Air, and for once the comparison isn't unhelpfully lazy. Like the French geniuses, 7 create cloud-spacious keyboard soundscapes, full of epic, melancholy melodies, reclaiming the despised, functional music of the 70s - muzak, piped/elevator music, BBC Stereophonic workshop etc. - and asserting its emotional value. While this was surprising and revelatory in the mid- to late-90s, it's familiar enough now; thankfully, 7 have enough of their own moody, bittersweet personality to keep you interested.

Other major echoes include the more experimental Burt Bacherach of 'Reach Out', especially in the use of such creamy instruments as the trumpet, the xylophone and God's own, the theremin; Portishead, in the late-night, trip-hop despair of songs like 'Destiny' or 'In the Waiting line'. The overall air of blissed pastoral stretches as far as English folk music on occasion.

Sometimes, like a spoilt, ungrateful child, I have qualms - that this is too 'coffee-table' perfect; tht the singers sound like session musicians; that 'Likufanele' is a bit too WOMAD for my tastes; but the textured, instrumental beauty, even on the vocal tracks, smothers any doubts. Reminds me, for some reason, of a brighter summer day in the 1970s.

I won't lie here: I origianlly came into contact with this music because i was looking through one of my friend's music collection on Itunes and thought the name Zero 7 sounded interesting. I know it's a bad way to choose, but the guy had good taste and too many artists to go through them all. So I listened to it and it took me less than 10 mins to get hooked on everything written by this group. I loaded it on my player and took on Spring Break to ski- and literally the entire time this is what was playing. I don't do that often. I listen to a lot of different music and rarely listen to the same thing non-stop for more than a day. I just don't know what to say. This music is addictive. The melodies/harmonies are so relaxing. They just make you want to sit there and contemplate life.

What an incredible album! This is what happens when beauty, bliss, and zen collide. I purchased this CD the week it was released and still listen to it constantly. This album is downtempo electronica at its best, and yet it is so much more. The music is beautiful and lush, wrapping around you, not unlike slipping into a warm bath on a cold winter day. The most well known songs from this album, "Destiny", "Distractions", and "In the Waiting Line" are particularly beautiful.

While there are some gorgeous, sparer soundscapes here and the musicianship is flawless, the real standouts are the incredible vocalists that Zero 7 has chosen to translate their music. Mozez, Sophie Barker, and Sia Furler are revelations, particularly (for me) Sia Furler - check out her two solo albums under the her first name only.

Pick this one up, if you haven't already, along with their second album "When It Falls", which is essentially more of the same beautiful sound, using the same vocalists - with the addition of Tina Dico.

I am very anxiously awaiting their third album - anyone heard when that might occur?