SOLEIL ABSTRACTION INDEPENDENT (2008) Are you in the ?moog? for love? With his warm tenor, sultry delivery, and penchant for legato melodies, muti-instrumentalist Soleil draws you into the vortex of his romantic and perpetually introspective psyche and then some. Mr. Kelley plays all the notes on this record, which is dominated by keyboards though occasional bright, upper register electric bass and trumpet melodies emerge amongst the many somnambulant samples and synthetic blips and bleeps.
Akin to Air, solo Ian Brown, latter day Depeche Mode, (and a few of the more tempered Seal releases), Soleil's subtlety becomes his key weapon. The instrumental tracks, most notably ?I Salute You,? are evocative of Eno/Bowie's mid-70s soul sound-scapes, and ?Take Me There? approximates the jazzy brilliance of Ray Manzarek. However Soleil is also a master balladeer as evidenced in ?Tempting Flight? which finds the singer doubling his voice while ruminating over a ?black bird? (you get the ideaE2.). The deliberate, funky undertow of ?Let Us Sail? underpins a sentimental tale of separated lovers even when delivered with an icy sentiment. Turn down the lights?turn up Abstraction. --Tom Semioli [February 2, 2009] AMPLIFIER MAGAZINE - INDIE ROCK & ARTISTS THAT MATTER