It seemed almost inevitable that I would start by throwing in casual – hell, perhaps even lazy – references to Lemon Jelly, Zero 7 – hell – even Air – but hand on heart, for every vagary of likeness there’s a candy-coloured mongrel of disparity amongst the quotes. Avoiding the frivolous detachment of the mighty Jellies, and the maverick obstinacy of the KY: collection, Nottingham’s Bent (Simon Mill, ex-giggler and Nail Tolliday, ex rave controller) follow up first official release, ‘Programmed To Love’ with a perfectly eccentric course of pro-robotics in the form of second album proper: ‘The Everlasting Blink’.
Loosely adhering to, then throwing away the pop rulebook, The Everlasting Blink is a fantastic collection of well greased grooves and ludicrously imagined sound banks. Whether it’s the spacious sci-fi retro of a Lena Martell whispered ‘An Ordinary Day’ (a truly inspired piece of Jimmy Webb sounding nostalgia) or the cantering, country loveliness of the Billie Jo Spears led ‘So Long Without You ‘ it’s an album of such sparkling wit and imagination that it sours the milk of such straight-laced chill-outs as Zero 7 or Royskopp with the barely the briefest of scoops from its battery-acid craziness.
Affecting a kind of time-capsule mentality or non-sequential layering of references and approaches (it listens a little like the last 40 years of music as heard bounced off in waves from an orbiting hubble-telescope) The Everlasting Blink successfully manages to compress a veritable mulch of disparate threads into a snug hour and ten minutes of heavenly chill-out that makes the artificial seem almost intelligent.
With everyone from David Essex to Captain and Tennille tune-checked this album is past, present and very nearly perfect.