Sensual Ambience

Sensual Ambience

Whatever you might think of David Roundsley's music, you can't say that the titles are in any way misleading. Like the Electro Pop album (which the music here predates by up to 6 years), the potential listener is given a very clear indication of what they'll find here, namely slow, mellow, dreamy &, at times, quite romantic electronic music that, in places, resembles the sensuousness of Enigma but fortuntely avoids the cliched monks chants in favour of a smooth melodic approach that is much more appealing &, in the case of the excellent piano work that graces 'Quiet Atmosphere' & "Cathedral Interlude' (the titles, for the most part, also act as a description of the music!), shows Roundsley's musicianship to be of a very high standard.

The sax voices that added a touch of class to Electro Pop again prove their worth by adding an additionally sensual edge to several tracks, most notably the instrumental 'To Whom It May Concern' & 'A Night In Paris' which is alive with Gallic flair while this style is taking to its logical conclusion during the 18-minute title track where the extended duration makes the most of the richly-textured melodics on a piece which expertly unfolds at just the right pace, creating the perfect soundtrack to a romantic evening as nothing is rushed or out of place, it's mood music of the first order that one can really get lost in.

After this the addition of the 'Electro' EP brings Roundsley's more up-tempo leanings to the fore with 'Regret' showing the style that would later become his forte & while none of the remixes (of tracks that would later appear on Electro Pop) add anything startlingly new, the release as a whole gives a good demonstration of the artist's versatility & considerable musical skills.