Sweden’s Aril – first bigged up by none other than Derrick May in 1998 with ‘Groove La Chord’, which was released on Fragile – finally follows his 1999 debut album, A Departure In Time, with a sublime outing on the mighty Peace Frog. In the late 90s, he reintroduced deep soul into techno and does the same again in these laptop-dominated minimal times. It’s timeless music packed with melody, deep pads and flickering Detroit-style synth fireflies. ‘Kind Of Nitzer’ nods to industrial while ‘Lady 707’ brushes with electro but it’s tracks like ‘Last One’ and ‘More Human’ which whip up a gorgeous style of classic techno which also recalls early Strictly Rhythm, even the jazzy keyboard excursions of the great Wayne Gardiner. A solid, life-affirming achievement.
5 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: KRIS NEEDS
