aaamusic | On 09, Jan 2011

The Safety Machine is exactly what every ambient album should be: a truly gorgeous collection of songs ranging from the sublime and surreal to the mundane and understated. Each and every track is evocative, meticulously composed by Alex Monk through inventive use of alternatively humming and screeching guitars, mandolins and keyboards, all alongside some inspired found sound choices. Despite what opening track Masks Survive may suggest, most of the album lacks vocals, though when they do pop up, they’re suitably ethereal, particularly those featuring Elisa Gallo Rosso, a woman with a voice so perfect for this album it somehow stops being a sound in itself and melts into the music that accompanies it. The Safety Machine is totally original (but at the same time probably not what you’d call ground-breaking), doing exactly what it sets out to do perfectly – it sounds like life, in all its intense and distorted glory. An excellent album and marks a wonderful start to music in 2011.

Author: Katharine Sparks