- There's something in that Norwegian air - ever since Royksopp came into the public domain it seems an endless queue of Scandinavians has formed, ready to release their soothing music for global consumption.
Of course that's a wildly general view - the Stavanger based duo Fenomenon have been making good music for some time, signing to the sadly defunct Nuphonic label in 2000, releasing two well received EPs. Before signing to Beatservice they released the single 'Lucy Said', which can be heard at the top of their 'Hourglass' debut album. Its light broken beats are coupled with a softly sung vocal, complete with strong 80s reminiscences. The album flits between vocal and nicely layered instrumental tracks such as 'Space Continuum' or 'Hypersleep', an effective chillout track with melodic strands drifting in and out of focus over an easy paced beat.
Sometimes the vocals are too nice, as on the next single 'Trouble Takes Flight', but 'Restless' has much more urgency with an excellent hook. Again the presence of the 80s is not far off, and it makes a most unwelcome resurgence with the cover of 'Everybody Wants To Rule The World' - yes, the song that only Tears For Fears should have been allowed to perform. Safe to say this saccharine version is one to skip and would have been better left alone.
Fortunately the other tracks more than make up for it, and although 'Hourglass' is very polite and reluctant to take too many risks, it's still a good listen, whether you're approaching it from a chillout or nu-jazz perspective.