Worlds Apart

Blue Stone is a duo consisting of producers Robert Smith and Bill Walters, who have pooled their instrumental, programming and production talents to create an album of dark and dreamy electronica that also draws on analog percussion and a variety of funk and club-based grooves. Worlds Apart also features the singing of three female vocalists, who sing (and whisper) in a variety of languages, and if this is all starting to sound a bit familiar, you're right: the end result is close to that of Enigma, except without all the moustache-twirling sex talk. Every track is pleasant, but those that rise above pleasantry tend to be the ones that feature the singers most prominently: "Waters Flow," the almost poppy "Tears," and the really very poppy "Event Horizon" are all high points on the program; when the vaguely Middle Eastern "Lost Sun" segues into the brighter and sweeter "Dreamcatcher," the effect of that transition is powerful as well. Less effective are the slightly overwrought "Voleti" and the vocoder-heavy "Envy." Overall, this is a very attractive program of undemanding electronica of the kind that the Neurodisc label does so well. [A limited-edition version includes a DVD with a music video and "behind the scenes" footage.]