A Closer Listen
While listening to Sound Vagabond, it’s easy to close one’s eyes and imagine being transported back to the mid-nineties, enjoying a fresh album from the trip-hop scene. This is no accident, as Eric Hilton is the founder of influential downtempo group Thievery Corporation. Three decades later, the familiar timbre is just as welcome, especially as it is in expert hands. And yet there are differences, not the least of which is the use of sample libraries instead of classic vinyl, a hack around the copyright infringement issues that plagued many an artist back in the day.
Is there a space for chill music today? One might argue that the genre is needed now more than ever. The original scene blossomed pre-9/11, pre-internet, pre-trolling. In a fractured, anxious world, music is a panacea. The unifying timbres of jazz, lounge, and world music imply that people somewhere are managing to get along despite their external differences; that we are all one in some underlying way. The Buddha Bar series, incidentally, is still going, a quiet whisper in the dark and a natural landing spot for pretty much every one of these tracks.
Hilton calls the collection “a sonic travelogue,” a reflection of the places he’s been, although the tracks often draw from different geographical areas. Sound Vagabond is more a travelogue of the mind. Think instead of a James Bond movie, but not the action scenes; the bars, the lounges, the late-night intrigue. A couple tracks top the expected BPM, but not by much; one may dance to these, sway to others, or simply stay on the couch, a mainstay of the classic chill-out room.
It’s almost unfair to pick favorites, since the album flows like a dream and is better taken in as a whole. The comforting bass of opener “Endless Affair” sets the tone, pulling the lever off the time machine. Fourteen tracks pass by in only forty-three minutes, each of single length, none hitting the four-minute mark. “Closer” is the most reminiscent of the trip-hop era, featuring sitar, strings and birds, and the repeated refrain, “You’re getting closer; close your eyes.” The brass overlays of “The Grand Intro” sweeten the atmosphere, the languid tempo a perfect match for the vibe. If the bygone era fails to return, at least we have its soundtrack. (Richard Allen)
Fri Feb 16 00:01:20 GMT 2024