There's a scene in the middle of Living Out Loud where the main character enters a club and stands on one of the surrounding catwalks, watching the dancers on the floor below move in a mesmerizing sort of slow-motion line dance. If listening to a CD ever evokes your memories of films you've seen, or if you ever just automatically recall scenes from films while listening to a new CD, forgive me for assuming you'd think of Living Out Loud. Life Changes is full of tracks you could easily expect to hear during that ambient slow-mo cool-down.
Ski remixed an album with Gilles Peterson and played keyboards for Raw Stylus; both are artists who successfully created great house and acid jazz. Given his background, you might expect Oakenfull to serve up more of the same, considering the high acclaim those records received. Instead, he moves away from those styles in favor of a more laid-back disco/electronica sound that's sophisticated, relaxed and soothing; track four is called "Serotonin", which would have made an appropriate name for the record.
"Running Through My Mind" and "Where Did the Love Go?" are definitely the leading candidates for a single, as they have the greatest dance potential and the purest disco vibe. Loaded with simple, heavy 4/4 beats, one or two single-line vocal tracks -- i.e. the phrase "Keeps running through my mind" looped -- and uncomplicated synth and Moog melodies, these two songs are about as straightforward dance pop as you'll find. The rest of Life Changes is mostly instrumental, and is largely club/lounge/cocktail house-pop, more likely to make you to want to sway your hips a little bit rather than shake your butt full-out. "On My Way" and "Take Off" are my favorites in this style, being so cool and stylish that you'll think of Good-Humour-style St. Etienne, Galliano, a bit of the Pet Shop Boys and maybe Morcheeba -- not so much put in a blender as cut-up bits pasted together into a harmonious whole. Much like chiffon dresses and maribou mules, Life Changes has a very very specific, froth-inclined audience -- and if you're not part of it, you're going to think thie album is absolute crap. If you own any Pizzicato 5 records or a pair of the new Disco Red Skechers, you had better grab Life Changes while you can.
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