Music Review

03 December 2008 04:48 BST

The Orb: The Dream

Liquid Sounds, out February 25th.

In a nutshell…

Hypnotic, ambient, psychedelic, pulsating, fluid

What's it all about?

Long-time Orb fans will be glad to hear that the seminal artists and inventors of the ambient house genre Alex Paterson and Martin 'Youth' Glover have reunited after 15 years to produce an album that manages to recreate the sound that soothed the ears of clubbers' post-dance lull in decades past.

With 15 tracks (or one if you're not paying attention), The Dream roots the listener firmly in Orb territory with its namesake opening track. It is a sumptuous cocktail of layered sounds that doesn't seem to end, but flits from samples to gurgling echoic noises and hypnotic beats throughout and then wakes the listener up with its harder hitting middle section of DDD (Dirty Disco Dub) and Mother Nature, which makes use of a Bhangra-dance hall infusion. The dream continues later however, with sleepy The Forest of Lyonesse and Sleeping Tiger & The Gods.

Who's it by?

The Orb were formed by school friends and rave partners Alex and Youth in the 1980s who, on their website, claim their 'hallucinogenic hosepipe…squirted a delirious nation down the trouserleg', with their chilled-out take on Chicago house with a twist of synthesisers, samples and strange effects.

The Orb's music will always take its listeners on a journey through a mind-boggling maze of sounds, rhythms and influences and The Dream is no different. It takes you back to the collaborators' roots of UFOrb and The Orb's Adventures in the Underworld and is well on par. It even includes samples from previous tunes such as the archetypal chill out track Blue Room in The Truth Is… to delight those who will recognise it: a far cry from the minimal techno of 2005's Okie Dokie.

As an example

DDD is a perfect example of the Orb's humour and versatility by making intriguing use of the O'Jays' For the Love of Money track, replacing the words 'money money money money' with honey in a housed-up version of the song.

Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys

The recent re-release of UFOrb and a busy year of recording and playing Bestival suggests that the Orb are back on the scene. The success of UFOrb's first outing in the 90s which saw it shoot to number one in the charts might cause a resurgence of support for the band, but the acid house nation that bought the album then may have hung up their whistles by now.

What the others say

The Milk Factory gives the album 4.4/5, seeing it as a "lush and groovy offering" that shows that there is still more to come from the Orb after all these years.

Subba-Cultcha again can't say a bad word about this record, claiming that it's their heaviest album yet which goes beyond resting on their past achievements.

So is it any good?

On first hearing some of the Orb's work, listeners may feel they have landed in a different universe, but a universe whose whirlwinds stream in colour and pulsating sounds while simultaneously tickling your tummy.

The fluidity created by reverb sends your head swimming, especially with the random inserts of speech, song and rap, not to mention the odd ripple, bubble and chime. Although this may sound like a nightmare day at a playschool, the Orb's seamless concoctions work so well that the album actually leaves you feeling as though you have just woken from a dream.

The electronic calm is broken up well with tunes that show influences from reggae to 70s disco, making it an enjoyable album and one that will have broad appeal.

Although the Orb are still at the top of their game, the record just misses out on creating the iconic tracks like those on their earliest albums that would warrant intensive replay.

8/10

Zephie Begolo