Full Circle

There’s something refreshingly comfortable about this album. Space Buddha is no spring chicken; this is his sixth album in as many years. It would be misleading to suggest that the music has undergone a complete metamorphosis: for the most part, Full Circle is pretty much what Space Buddha does.

The title track gives you sixty seconds’ grace before launching into a set menu that’s pretty much what this is about: sharp, tight fullon with crisp lines and melodies. Pure Energy has some scorching midrange action, mainly by way of a swirling acidline that pushes you along to a break, after which things get seriously melodic and – dare I say it – almost Goa-ey. Land Of The Wolves is the album’s clear standout; it nicks the melody from Peter & The Wolf (if you don’t know it, you’ll recognise it), warps it around a bit, and sticks a solid fullon platter underneath. The effect is a good one: this is one of “those tunes” that people will head to the DJ to ask about, one that people might spin out a bit to, one that has enough character to it that it’ll have a longer shelflife than its counterparts. It’s also probably one of those tunes that’ll divide people squarely into the love/hate camps; personally I’m in the former (just) but don’t take my word for it, and feel free to hate every fragment of its being if that’s the kind of day you’re having.

Blow Your Heart Up has a rather boring Beat Hackers-ish post-Isra feel to it; nothing to write home about, and I remember being equally underwhelmed by a similar track on another Space Buddha album. White Widow is a filler, and Toast3d collaboration Can You Hear It has a cracking warped intro, and a slomo, bpm-counter-confusing middle run, before crashing into a tidal wave of melodies and filters. Mental Hotline has a cracking sample at the start but soon loses its quirkiness and fades into the periphery.

Nirvana, on the other hand, is pretty much Space Buddha’s most emotive work yet; it’s morning stuff, with a tad of glitch added to keep things interesting, and the melodies are intriguing, warm, ticklish and happy all at once. Finally, Walking On Water is the obligatory Israeli act downtempo track, which really shouldn’t exist unless the producer has something genuine to contribute, which clearly isn’t the case here.

And this kind of sums up the whole album. It’s good in the sense that it’s clear, tight fullon music that will be bread and butter to the assembled festival dancefloors. But quite whether Space Buddha is firing on all his cylinders here is another matter.