It might not be the revolution the music world is pining for, but streaming services have recently reported an explosion in the popularity of ambient world electronica. Good timing for the doyen of percussive atmospherics, Simon Green, who returns with his sixth album. Inspired by his experiences as a nomadic musician rather than global issues surrounding migration, the record shares the same melancholic intensity of Jon Hopkins’ Immunity, but its head remains in the clouds rather than the club. Nicole Miglis’ vocals on Surface flicker like the flames of a backpacker’s campfire; the woozy No Reason is verdant and brooding; the languid, half-awake Break Apart caters to the chillout/easy-listening audience; while Bambro Koyo Ganda features energy from Morocco’s Innov Gnawa; and Kerala’s undulating rhythms, pensive and purposeful, mirror the movement of a bird’s wing.
