CD: Breaks Co-Op, "The Sound Inside"

The Sound Inside is trying to get out, but all that Breaks Co-Op is doing is setting it up for someone else to take. For a series of light and slight tracks, this album has an astonishingly large number of styles and influences from around the world, but the emotion is missing. The message of "The Otherside" is what Michael Franti's been preaching for some time now, and the melody of "Last Night" might as well be a more subdued version of REM's "Everybody Hurts." Tracks like "Duet" merge the ambient sounds of rain with the oriental feel of a harp, and "Question of Freedom" goes way retro with the distorted jazz chic, but both these songs seem like better samples than songs, and they're waiting for someone to step up. The music is strong enough to make this release above-average, but aside from some accomplished acoustic tracks like "A Place for You," the album is more atmospheric (hear the twinkles of a high-pitched keyboard on "Twilight") than engaging.

[First posted to Silent Uproar, 2/17]