Dead Heretic

Ishaq Fahim created a beautiful cover for this album, a mix of geometric hardness and delicate tones to gently beckon you into it. Oh, I was always going follow this Siren to my doom. All India Radio's album Tranquil Motion is monumental as it is graceful.

The Tranquil Motion is far more than the self-described “retro future ambient space pop” the band has penned on their Ampwall page. This is ambience and delight all the way through. From the digital version of an A Side, the tracks are smoothness, gentle caressing and soul-satisfying to a degree that is mind-blowing. Majestic synths that almost hum and murmur to you overlay a deep undercurrent of soft energy. There is nothing grotesque or brutal about this section of the album. Some of the tracks introduce a feed of more energetic, decidedly un-drone-like sounds, but they never shatter the carefully crafted bubble of the tracks preceding them. This dreamy, gossamer vision building and it is addictive. My favourite track from the A Side is “A3 Gong & Electronics 2”, but only just. All of the tracks here are wonders of craftsmanship and skill.

The B Side picks the rhythm up a little, moving away from the drone ambience, but only by a few steps. Even here, you are still deep in the ambience of AIR's ministrations. Guitars and bass feature a little more, but never like that annoying relative who just won't shut up. Each track is skilfully crafted, building on what passed on the A Side. The percussions also gain a more prominent role in building the soundscape AIR is inviting you to travel through. It is warm, complex and thoughtful. In the B Side, the variety of sound will keep you guessing. The guitars are only the beginning. Flutes enter the field, along with pianos. The B Side develops the overall groove, but it never violates the vision.

What All India Radio has done is create a unity through very different parts of the one album. And they have done it so well, the seams are all but invisible. Tranquil Motion is definitely not the album you want in your head when you're at the gym, unless you want to be slumped over the ab-machine. For anyone looking to escape the world for a couple of hours, AIR has got you. Tranquil Moon is the stuff of dreams and bewitching vistas of the mind.

For a first introduction to All India Radio, Tranquil Motion is a stunningly elegant album with a scope wide enough for even the most ambition-loving fans. From the cover to the sound, it really is the total, get-your-dream-on package. This is the passport to destinations unimagined.