artist: Lotus country of origin: Australia style(s): Ambient dub, world beat, ambient pop essential releases: Lotus (Rasa Music, 2002)

It was Deep Forest and Enigma who first brought ambient beats into the mainstream in the early 1990’s. Today their sound has become almost a genre in itself and a template that many others - with often cringe-worthy results - have followed. It’s a warm, downbeat, slickly produced sound carried by languid breakbeats and where the focus is always on some exotic or non-Western element. Deep Forest did it with pygmy songs. Enigma did it with Gregorian chants. A decade later in 2002 Australian act Lotus did it again with Indian and South-East Asian sounds and came up trumps.

Why the album works simply comes down to great writing, arranging and attention to detail. The slick production may initially be a turn-off but beneath the gloss there’s real beauty and plenty of depth. A couple of fine English-language pop songs (“Within Or Without You” the best) are dropped in the mix alongside some instrumentals as well as vocal numbers sung in other tongues. The lyrics and CD notes more than hint at various spiritual sources, but to these ears the music sounds gloriously sensual. Spiritual (the spirit) and sensual (the body) are actually two very different worlds, are they not? Theology aside, Lotus is one of the best albums in it's genre and recommended.

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