Bob Holroyd - A Different Space

Bob Holroyd has his finger firmly on the international pulse on his debut album A DIFFERENT SPACE, from the Afircan chanting on "Drumming Up a Storm" to the melancholy Spanish-tinged vocals on "Journeyman." The atmospherics on "Dark Waters" is augmented by a lonely electric guitar, some piano plinking and an operatic sample. In each of his tracks, there's a certain tribal quality to the rhythm (whether it's loops of authentic drumming or the rhythmic structure itself) that gives the tracks more weight than they would. Indeed, "African Drug" is almost nothing but rhythm. "Something Understood" starts off with some industrial sounds, but then ease out the edges with some long synth pulls. "Adrift in Kerala" lingers on the Hindi vocals, while the title track sort of wanders off into nothingless. While there's nothing in this album to dislike, it doesn't distinguish itself very well and occasionally veers too close to "new age" territory. A different space? Not really. A pleasant space? To be sure.