Being labelled 'coffee table' is seen as the ultimate insult. After all, images of urbane sophistication and adult maturity are anathema to the rest of us as we absorb wicked beats whilst torturing helpless animals and smoking crack. Some brilliantly pioneering music - Tricky, Portishead or Björk - has been slighted by such dumb inverted snobbery. And though more breakbeat-infused than trip hop-influenced, Lamb have often been as easily dismissed. On their previous album, 'Fear Of Fours', their skittering drum'n'bass became cloggingly overwrought, but here soft sequencer patterns, Will Orbit-style textures and widescreen string arrangements have made the duo sound remarkably fresh and alert. As 'This Could Be Heaven', 'Just Is' and 'Small' attest, their combination of twitching electronics and Louise Rhodes' impassioned, lovestruck rapture has never sounded so bewitching. Bland coffee table muzak? Not a chance.
rated: * * * * (out of 5)
review: Neil Davenport
nicked from 'Jockey Slut', dated October 2001
