Blank & Jones set forth their new album on a different note from almost all their different work in the past. 14 tracks of pure ambient bliss of the chillout kind.

Piet, Jaspa and Andy put in something a bit different than their usual european trance sound and come through with fourteen ambient and chillout productions which give the listeners something different to put in their car stereo's or their hi-fi's at home.

Tracklist:

1. Breezin'
2. Unknown Treasure (Ft. Claudia Brucken)
3. Beyond Time
4. Love Comes Quickly (Ft. Pet Shop Boys)
5. Watching The Waves
6. Flaming June (Ft. Elles de Graaf)
7. Relax
8. Angel (Ft. Sarah Mclachlan)
9. Counting Clouds
10. Desire
11. Secrets & Lies
12. Daydreamin'
13. The Hardest Heart (Ft. Anne Clark)
14. Driftin'

Immediately into Breezin', it is just what the title says it is, a truly breezing track, complete with sureal guitars and a distant melody which would put you on a beach overlooking the Caribbean shores at 8am just as the sun subtly breaches the horizon; making this a superb track.

With a number of tracks making use of some of Europe's top singers, this next number is definitely one of them. Claudia Brucken is no newcomer to the vocal scene having had a long standing career as a singer for much of the past decade. Unknown Treasure is a very Enigma like production, with ambience and atmosphere balancing across a wide spectrum and a mild 4/4 bassline accompanying Claudia's mellow vocals.

Most of us will know Beyond Time having made its rounds a few years ago when released with some fine remixes. Here is the downtempo representation of the track which brings upon more of the atmosphere present in the previous track plus a beautiful break which is present just after 2 minutes, almost verging on a tearful moment and bringing back memories of the balearic days of the 99-00' era.

Blank & Jones seem to be a big fan of Pet Shop Boys' as they have worked together in some form or another a few times over the past couple of years now and this is on of them. Love Comes Quickly is actually a Pet Shop Boys production with a makeover by the boys and has a kind of trippy downtempo conjecture which almost crosses into Jazz.

Blank & Jones also released Watching The Waves not too long ago on the Gang Go imprint, and this, naturally is the ambient remix of the production and is yet another fine remix which brings upon the summer vibe, albeit several months premature.

When I saw the title, I thought that it might have been a remake of Brian Transeau's track of the same title. Featuring the vocal talents of Elles de Graaf, better known for her work with Armin van Buuren on The Sound of Goodbye. This production is actually quite retro in style and has a somewhat 80s vibe to it but keeping the ambient melodies and subliminal sequences in place..

It's not long before the title track is featured.. Relax, is a good 8 minute journey into the chillout vibes which we all love from time to time, whether it is when you wake up, trying to unwind, or just chilling in the car. Relax is definitely a track which would suit the winding down process without putting you to sleep and it reminds me of some of Jose Padilla's work or perhaps some of his early morning DJ sets on the Ibizan shores..

We come to a singer who we all love... Sarah McLachlan.. This is actually a track which samples Sarah's original Angel track which some us will remember from several years ago when she did many live performances of this track. The original was already downtempo emotional piece, but this brings in a stunning work in my opinion. Perhaps it's Sarah's vocals, the cool vibe or the sublime snares in the back, but after the four minutes was up I found myself pressing the back button on the hi-fi to listen to this again.

Counting Clouds, almost seems to be a mouthful to say and is a track which takes on a somewhat different direction to the majority of the tracks so far. Starting off somewhat dark, this piece stems to an almost Craig Armstrong like production fit for a movie score, and almost reminded me of Bruce Springsteen's Streets of Philadelphia. The sublime vocals throughout the track keep it from getting cheesy or poppy, and I find that so far, the balance between the vocals and the production have been well placed and the balance is just right..

Desire is another track which has been featured in the past, having been released last year with a number of remixes. What I loved about this track were the chilling vocals featured throughout the track and this keeps the whole thing in place, complete with the piano melody and flute-sounding instruments... I loved the original release and I love this one as well..

Yet more from 2002 is Secrets & Lies, this starts off completely beatless before coming through with a mild bubbling bassline which flows with dynamic prowess. Although bearing little resemblance to the original track, the chilling melody is clear to the point, making this a fine addition to the album...

Daydreamin' starts off on an entirely different tone to the other tracks so far, with a fluid trippy bassline which progressed to not much and I found this track probably the one I thought was weakest in the entire album.

The Hardest Heart featuring the vocals of Anne Clark was released earlier this year and was a big hit in Europe. This representation brings in something different towards the end of the album and ensures that the listener does not get caught in a disillusional dreamy state having had a wealth of ambience throughout the album so far.

The final track on the album is Driftin', a mild but lucid 2 minutes of ocean scapes and spanish guitars signalling the end of this beautiful journey into the ambient side of music which we all appreciate from time to time.

Conclusion:
Perhaps it was obvious throughout my review, and perhaps it wasn't, but this album has been one of the top albums I have come across this year so far. Maybe it is because I am a big fan of the chillout ambient style of things, or maybe it is the fact that Piet, Jaspa and Andy put together a fine piece of work, but either way, it is evident that trance / dance producers can do other things than only producing... trance or dance...

A cool retrospective viewpoint on the music of the balearic nature, I would highly recommend this album for anyone.. Regardless of what music you're into, this will come through as a charming collection of sounds and melodies and might even make you reconsider where you are going this summer.

Great work to Blank & Jones for this album.