AmbientMusicGuide.com

2003's best ambient pop album was the international debut of Bliss, in truth actually a compiliation album drawn from number of past releases. The band, revolving around core members Marc-George Andersen and Steffen Aaskoven, is nominally Danish even though its four members variously hail from Denmark, Sweden and West Africa.

It could be argued that Quiet Letters' exceptionally polished blend of pop phrasing, ethereal electronics, Eastern flavours and neo-classical strings was bound to get noticed thanks to its surface attractions alone. Yet such fine craft is matched by composing and songwriting of genuine humanity and tenderness. This is also an album full of space. It is a testament to the band's arranging skills that no matter how many different instruments they play - piano, accordion, guitars, tribal drums, synth drones - there is still space everywhere in their music.

The guest female vocalists like Sophie Barker (from Zero 7) have voices as pure and crystal clear as a mountain stream. One of many vocal highlights is the almost-jazzy torch song "Right Here", a track of remarkable stillness that features little more than voice and a tentative electric piano. The more optimistic "Kissing" is the album's sweetest moment and simply a very good pop song. The instrumentals and part-instrumentals are every bit the equal of the songs. They are fully-released both musically and emotionally and blessed on occasion with the spine-tingling African vocals of the African-born member Salvador Embalo. "Duniya" is full of longing and loneliness, while the 11-minute "Manvantara" is a downright catchy nod to Latin house with African trimmings.

Skipping the TV soundtrack They Made History (2005) there's a six-year gap separating Quiet Letters and its follow-up No One Built This Moment which, perhaps surprisingly, is almost as good. That special sense of space is intact despite the exotic instrumental colourings and singers Sophie Barker and newcomer Lisbeth Scott are in fine form. The only stumble is an ill-fitting guest spot from Boy George on "American Heart" whose deep, slightly out-of-tune vocal is at odds with the typically delicate musical setting.

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