Lovebubble

Book of Love’s fourth and final studio album, 1993’s Lovebubble, showcases a band headed in several different directions, and it's the only Book of Love album to feature vocal contributions from all four members. Democracy has its unintended consequences. Unlike the airy and free focus of their 1986 self-titled debut or the concentrated psychedelic touches of 1991’s Candy Carol, Lovebubble updates its sound with music that veers from the meticulously processed ticking of “Hunny Hunny” to the hip-hop bounce of “Chatterbox Pt. 1” and ambient sheen of “Chatterbox, Pt.2,” with a cover of Osibisa’s “Woyaya” sung to neighborhood crowd noise and David Bowie’s “Sound and Vision” played successfully to an abrasive edge. The group’s three-keyboard approach ensures that patterns and arpeggios are thrown together in furious and chaotic glee. “Trouble In A Bubble” manages to both tick away with notes quickly stroked yet with a sense of stereo placement and aural space that emphasizes the group’s veteran touch and keyboardist Ted Ottaviano’s ability to exert an overriding focus on this band of creative misfits.