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Zero 7: The Garden

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Atlantic Records
Released: 2006.06.06
Time:
 51:27
Category: Electric Jazz
Producer(s): See Artists ...
Rating: *******... (7/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.zero7.co.uk
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2009.10.17
Price in €: 3,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Futures (Binns/Hardaker) - 3:49
[2] Throw It All Away (Binns/Furler/Hardaker/Madden) - 5:20
[3] Seeing Things (Binns/Hardaker) - 5:09
[4] The Pageant of the Bizarre (Binns/Furler/Hardaker) - 4:21
[5] You're My Flame (Binns/Furler/Hardaker) - 3:15
[6] Left Behind (Binns/González) - 1:15
[7] Today (Binns/González/Hardaker) - 4:03
[8] This Fine Social Scene (Binns/Furler/Hardaker) - 4:27
[9] Your Place (Binns/Hardaker) - 6:01
[10] If I Can't Have You (Binns/Furler/Hardaker/Madden) - 3:22
[11] Crosses (González) - 6:39
[12] Waiting to Die (Binns/Furler/Hardaker) - 3:39

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Henry Binns -  Producer, Vocals, Background Vocals
Sam Hardaker - Producer

Sally Herbert - Strings
Henry Collins - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Nigel Godrich - Acoustic Guitar
Tom Skinner - Drums
Jose Gonzalez - Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
Paul Jayasinha - Trumpet
Peter North - Bass Trombone
Paul Booth - Baritone Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone
Valerie Etienne - Background Vocals
Yvonne John Lewis - Background Vocals
Nathan Bray - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Darren Wiles - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Sia Furler - Vocals
Dedi Madden - Acoustic Guitar, Guitar, Electric Guitar
Robin Mullarkey - Bass, Vibes
Martin Williams - Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone
Barnaby Dickinson - Trombone
Simon Willescroft - Alto Saxophone

Eddie Stevens - Horn Arrangements
John Dent - Mastering
Nigel Godrich - Engineer
Zero 7 - Producer
Phil Brown - Engineer
Gid London - Artwork

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


2006 CD Atlantic 380
2006 CD WEA International 112857
2006 LP WEA International 112857
2006 CD Atlantic 5101128572

Zero 7, aka Sam Hardaker and Henry Binns, are back with a gorgeous new album, The Garden. It was produced by Sam and Henry and mixed by Phil Brown, who has worked with such luminaries as the Rolling Stones, Brian Eno and Talk Talk. It features vocal performances by Jose Gonzalez, Sia Furler and Henry Binns. The band’s previous albums, Simple Things and When It Falls, were critically acclaimed and rooted them firmly alongside Royksopp & Lemon Jelly as leaders in their field. The Garden sees Zero 7 take a fresher, more upbeat musical direction while still maintaining their trademark sound, and could well turn out to be the soundtrack to the summer.



In Zero 7's last album, When It Falls, there were more than noticeable hints that the band was taking the idea of a pop song a lot more seriously, which should then make it unsurprising that with Garden they've stepped even further in that direction, all but leaving their downbeat roots behind. Instead of being what the music is based around, the synthesized aspects once so prominent now act more like the thread that sews the different squares of the quilt together and keeps them in place. The actual substance, the fabric, is much more organic; it's the guitars, the keyboards, the horns, and the rich vocal harmonies. Sia returns as a guest artist, as does Swedish star José González, whose Jim Croce-esque voice works fantastically with the verdant plot of land that Zero 7 has managed to cultivate. The songs are creative and interesting, explorative without losing their focus or their point, moving about from being in love to reflections on life to obsession. "Throw It All Away" has a nice, easy summer groove, "Today" uses sparser instrumentals over electronic percussion, the vibraphone in "The Pageant of the Bizarre" adds a circusy, Air-like feel, and "Crosses," which first appeared on González's album Veneer, is embellished with changing dynamics, a Fleetwood Mac-esque piano line, plenty of keyboard effects, and a string section. While Sia's emotive voice has been long proven to be an excellent fit with Zero 7's music, the relative flatness of González's adds a nice texture to the rolling movement behind it. And main songwriter Henry Binns, who also take lead vocals occasionally, is a master at adding harmonies that bring a kind of light pastoral intensity to the pieces, and gives them a great sense of structure. With Garden, Zero 7 has created what could be the ultimate summer evening record: warm pop hooks, lush instrumentation, unobtrusive electronica elements, and '60s-style harmonies that all come together into superb, wonderfully descriptive songs. And what could be better than that?

Marisa Brown - All Music Guide



"Upbeat" seems like an odd description of a recording that includes song titles like "Throw It All Away" and "Waiting to Die." Yet fans of Zero 7 (the English sound-design duo of Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker) will indeed discover that the group's third release exhibits a slightly more animated pace--more multitempo than downtempo--than its predecessors, the seductively trippy Simple Things and the like-minded When It Falls. Craving a follow-up to the breathy, interstellar soul of "Destiny" from the group's debut disc, or "Passing By" from When It Falls? You may struggle to find similar magic here. Even so, The Garden is an intriguing listen, showcasing the sophistication that makes Zero 7 the Steely Dan of chillout--wry, intelligent lyrical observations, inventive musicianship, a detached sense of cool forged by the duo's heady blend of folk, jazz, '70s soul, and electronica. The Kraftwerk-like "Seeing Things"--the disc's lone instrumental--and the pulsing "You're My Flame" are useful tracks to gauge this album's elevated vibrancy. Sia Furler is the group's only returning vocalist, and the absence of Sophie Barker and Tina Dico, the gentle Christine McVie counterpoints to Furler's rough-hewn Stevie Nicks, is noticeable. Mozez and his Seal-like soul is also gone, replaced by more folk/pop-oriented José Gonzãlez. Binns even spends 80 seconds as the quiet lead voice on the slow-building brass outburst "Your Place." Furler's up-and-down vocals on "The Pageant of the Bizarre" will stick in your mind, but her best work comes on two clever lampoons of pampered lifestyles, "This Fine Social Scene" and "Waiting to Die." (Sample lyric: "Now is a good time for tasty glass of wine; let's not worry ourselves about carbon dioxide.") Different, yes, but worthwhile.

Terry Wood - Amazon.com



Since remixing Radiohead’s "Climbing The Walls" into a horizontal classic, ‘chill out’ champions Zero 7--Sam Hardaker and Henry Binns--have gone from strength to strength. This third album from the duo is highly anticipated to say the least. Will the duo stick with the floozy, fuzzy, lounge-heavy sound that has made them famous? Or will they make an Air-style u-turn into rock/harder electronica territory. The Garden does it all. Enlisting vocalists Sia and José Gonzalez (Henry has a go too), the document displays many links back to previous work--warm synths, French pop flair, subtle world music influences--but also showcases a keener sense of experimentalism and a more driven, assertive sound. The contrast between the sultry, folky Gonzalez (who supplies four tracks, including a reworking of his own great track "Crosses") and the more soulful, upbeat Sia (who supplies three) introduces an interesting dynamic and help Zero 7 achieve what is ultimately a more mature and interesting direction.

Paul Sullivan - Amazon.co.uk
  

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