Zero 7 - The Garden

A new Zero 7 album is something many folk I know always get excited about.

I do like Zero 7, of course, it's physically impossible to dislike, or at least to feel any aversion to.
One might be unexcited, or uninspired, but dislike would be a difficult emotion to muster.

So, what is it that people see in Zero 7 ? Partly, I suspect it is the flavour or culture of it. It's
that Parisienne cafe culture thing, you know, St Germaine, Au Revoir Simone, all that.

But it's also Dance, and unequivocally, no matter what the Magazines say, Zero 7 do not belong in a Rock Magazine, and despite similarities, there really is no CSN&Y or Herb Albert Easy Listening connection anglr. This is postmodern. The parping trumpet on "throw it all away" is fleeting, a tribute or tip of the hat, part of a mix. So too the CS&N vocals from Jose Fernandez here and there.

The whole Easy thing is mixed with electronic dance music in a subtle weave that is part mix part new culture.

So, what's it like?

Well, opener "Futures" is mostly a Jose F song with the attendant Z7 cool flavour. The coffee is more decaf than Parisienne, and track 2 is an amalgam too, of cool, easy, dance, and
pop... all pieced together in a lambent melange the like of which you only get from Pro Tools and couple of DJ's swapping ideas.

All instruments are there, but not in the raw, more in the relaxed Sunday afternoon format, feet up with a novel.

Almost everything has guitars and crisp drums with polite but witty basslines and keyboard embellishments. "Seeing things" has one of those submarine sounds on the keyboards,
and elsewhere you get a little vibraphone playing. All very chilled, yet not dead on the slab.

There is plenty of musical humour here, too, and lots of space-dance sounds in the mix, but always chilled and always mixed in a modest not-quite-showing-your-pants kind of way.

Of course, at times it sounds like Deja Vu (in both senses), but other times it is quite adventurous. Take "pageant of the bizarre", which is a straight down Zero 7 song with Sia Furler at the mic, only to turn at the close into a spiritual.

"You're my flame" is back to the desk though. Classic Zero 7, but with twinges of something extra. There's surely a little bit of sonic neighbour Moby here and there. Less drama of course but a little bit of history mixed in with the Sci Fi keyboards.

What type of music is it? It's hard to pin down. Sophisticated pop might be a decent try, but there is a jazz flavour and a cool tone, yet remaining forever that understated dance they have always purveyed. And for me, it is this that sets Z7 outside the Rock museum. Why it matters is that the Rock mags just don't seem to "get" what this type of dance is all about.

Track 9, "Your Place", however, is easily the standout, and as good as anything of it's type in recent years. It starts innocently, then comes that drumming... how can I describe it? A little bit of John McIntyre, It's the drumming of a great Jazz band about to do something extraordinary, where the drummer 'teas up' the thing for the band to get serious.

And get serious they sure do, with a swelling brass section moving from Chicago Transit AUthority up to Blood Sweat and Tears.The first time I heard it I thought it went on too long. A
measure of the track is that now I think it doesn't go on long enough! It's a great track, in a nostalgic way, but great all the same.

The album as a whole though Is not quite stunning, and doesn't hit the spots "Simple Things" did. I've asked myself why repeatedly, and it's hard to pin down because you can't as a
listener replicate the receptive quality of that first-heard album. Plus you can't pretend, you can't undo the first two albums and listen afresh.

But there's nothing as strong as "Waiting Line", there's no argument to be had on that score.

Instead there are moments of Jose, and some lovely spots of Zero-goodness. I'd still recommend it but it's the third Z7 album to get, and in that order. Plus I'd warn anyone fearfull of Tijuana Brass moments to look away.

There are some lovely references to that late 60's LA chill, the sort you used to get backgrounding cop shows or heist movies. But it is not Air, it's not Eno and it's not
groundbreaking.

Still a league clear of St Germaine though, and on this showing I guess Z7 are always destined to be in the same slot.