| Artist |
| Liquid Divine |
| Title |
| Black Box |
| Format/Cat |
| CD |
| Label |
| Infacted Recordings |
| Style |
| Electro |
| Date of review |
| 10th December 2007 |
| Reviewer |
| Carl Jenkinson |
| Rating |
| 7.5/10 |
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Although it received relatively little publicity in the UK I personally thought Liquid Divine's 2005 debut album Interface was a breath of fresh air. The mix of modern electronica & atmospheric, slightly psychadelic elements gave it a style all of its own so I was really looking forward to hearing this follow-up from the duo of Christian Fritzsche & Guido Stoye. In many ways this repeats the successful formula of its predecessor with no startling changes in the sound, not even a subtle progression but it does play to the duo's strengths so if you enjoyed the debut you'll certainly get a lot out of this. The usual Liquid Divine trademarks are all present & correct here, namely the widespread use of vocoder which immediately makes its presence felt on the opening 'Panic Voice', along with the sweeping synths that add extra colour to the robust & resonant rhythms & while it's an oft-used effect its contribution to the stand-out track that is 'At Any Time' (not the most inspiring title, it's true) cannot be underestimated as the music really fulfills its full psychadelic & atmospheric potential in an understated but magical manner. Likewise, the pacey but light breakbeat rhythms crop up on such punchier tracks as 'Hope: Less' & 'Dividing Lines', just to add a more modern sheen to proceedings, in league with 'Sleepwalk' which both possess a funkier edge that livens proceedings up a good deal & in contrast to the sample & hold effects on the beginning of 'Click' that hark back to the 90s & the more organic-sounding textures that add to the emotive mood of 'Satellites'. It's this mixing of moods & musical elements that makes Liquid Divine's music the unique entity it is with the duo's compositional skills coming very much to the fore on 'Breaking News' which builds from the almost otherworldly feel of its opening (in sharp contrast to the snippets of news footage) into a busy piece as extra layers are added to the mix while the closing 'Overwritten' is a masterpiece of texture & atmosphere, it just glides along in the most enthralling manner possible & just when you think it can't get any better in comes a beautiful piano line to up the ante still further & so end the album on the highest note possible. As it's not full of dancefloor stormers this album probably isn't going the set the scene on fire but it's a constantly satisfying listen that satisfies the heart, head & soul & is well worth seeking out if you're after something just that little bit different.
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