You wonder about which tribe Gearbox are aiming at on this serene detour away from the King's Cross label's usual jazz releases. Take 'Overheard' right at the end with its solemn piano beginning and almost seraphic vocals noodling, Ronnie & Clyde aka songwriters and production duo John Ross and Rob Fitzpatrick come from nowhere in terms of the label's usual artist consciousness. A key question could be how good, meaning memorable or hooky, are the songs? You aren't looking for lyrics really. But that's missing the point because the beats are so significant. These beats are solid, you get a laconic sense throughout and the vocals when they work best operate a woozy almost singalong extended form sensuousness. On 'Don't Forget to Breathe' (the longest track at just over five minutes) the wordless vocals are like instruments and the whole thing is an ever increasing lushly orchestrated strings bedecked panorama. Vocals as on 'This Heart of Mine' are heading towards a falsetto highness but at the lower end there is almost a monastic eeriness to the sonic wraparound. A downtempo sheen to the electro coated 'Sleeping City' is a high point and 'Silent Sea' has a contented opening. The production on 'Sour Plumb' with its synth sounding flute-ish chirping riffing set against a shaker-heavy rhythm track is impressive. Altogether a club friendly album a lot of which you'd guess is stacking up as a bookie's ante-post favourite for a few remixes. If you are adding it to a playlist line up something in a percussive electronica direction however contrasting by the likes of Minihi next. One to like? Enough to spend quality time with. Ronnie and Clyde, photo: Twitter