Blank & Jones continue their double life with the release of the latest installment to their original chillout series, Relax 4. By day (as in sunny hours, not their "day job") they craft hazy, lazy downtempo beach music, such as is presented here. By night, they bring their brand of high-energy electronic music to the clubs, drawing equal inspiration from the trance scene, electro movement, and more beat-oriented tracks from early techno days. The Relax series has morphed a bit over time. When it started, it was a mostly seamless collection of chilled out original tracks and remixes meant to accompany your nap on the beach. Now, the series is presented as a day time/night time set.
Disc One is subtitled "Sun" and is the more laid back of the two. Stylistically, this disc finds itself somewhere in between a very slow, Balearic chill sound and something that occasionally approaches down-tempo. It's one of their most placid offerings, to be sure, but also is a bit out of genre. "Face a la Mer" starts things off, and is a breezy, flamenco guitar-led instrumental number. A reworking of Laid Back's "Happy Dreamer" follows, and already brings the pulse of the set down a notch. And by the time we get to "Nuits Blanches" - which harkens back to the first track in terms of style - things seem to have stalled out a bit into... I'm just gonna go ahead and say it: easy listening.
The emphasis on this Margaritaville-hammock-style of chillout seems to be taking them to the edge of what would actually be considered "chillout," as opposed to just "really slow." And its this emphasis on the first disc that finds the group faltering. Where before there had been generous doses of this mixed in with some other ambient trance elements, or after-hours lounge, now it has come to the fore as the overriding theme.
Things pick up a bit with their first effort at a title track for the series, "Relax (Your Mind)," which is a pleasant vocal number that brings up the tempo just enough. This carries nicely into "Chilled Cream," delivering more of a definite laid-back groove. "Try Again" features Keane and starts off as a very nice slow vocal cut, before injecting a rhythmic break during the mid-point. This second triptych of seconds feels more like the heart and soul of this first disc, and easily trumps the first set of songs.
The second half of the disc finds itself oscillating between these two styles, with the two vocal tracks featuring Vanessa Daou ("Heart of Wax" and "Consequences") as well as "Up 2 You" being definite highlights. The more "elevator" tracks certainly aren't bad, especially when considered individually, but do feel out of place given the level of prominence that they have throughout the disc. The fact that the set is unmixed only serves to highlight these contrasting styles all the more.
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