Over the years, Brian Eno has taken ambience into abstraction on such albums as 1997’s The Drop and a more recent series of limited-edition releases drawn from his visual installation projects. But Drawn From Life features some of Eno’s most tightly structured and accessible music in years. He crafts a languid cyber-noir sound, with dark shadows and mysterious voices, including a dream-like Laurie Anderson. German drummer/composer J. Peter Schwalm has refined the electro-jazz sensibility Eno has been striving for since 1992’s Nerve Net. Schwalm brings a subtle rhythmic push that gently propels Eno’s ambiences into cinematic expanses on “Persis” and “Night Traffic.” Like Eno’s best music, there are curious experiments here but also an underlying charm and unaffected lyricism—something for which Eno rarely gets credit and to which such artists as Moby owe a huge debt.—JD
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news