Starbeam

Here's a welcome surprise- William Orbit is back making music. The first fruit of a recent burst of creativity is Starbeam, six minutes of piano and wordless vocals, rising/ falling synth and keyboard parts. There's too much going on here in the foreground for it to be ambient and it doesn't have the minimalism of nu- classical. There's an album to follow which an interview in The Guardian promises will have 'symphonic trance crescendos, some chill out meanderings and a major ambient- rave tune'. Make of that what you will. He's definitely a maverick and one of the architects of the 90s. 

The interview here is very entertaining, focussing mainly on his work with Madonna (and him walking in on her while she was having a dump), his productions for the big stars (Britney, Pink, Mel C, Ricky Martin) and a drug induced breakdown aged sixty one (he's now sixty five). I'd have liked more about Torch Song, Bass- O- Matic and his Strange Cargo albums but I suppose that would be for the serious music monthlies. This track, from Strange Cargo III in 1993, is a genuine 90s widescreen ambient- house classic. 

The Story Of Light