Kelley Polar Love Songs of the Hanging Gardens

• Words: Peter Nicholson
• Label: Environ
• XLR8R Rating: /10

You know if Morgan Geist (Metro Area) is at the boards it's gotta sound clean and make you want to move. But this tight, 43-minute album heads in a new direction, guided by the vocal talents of Kelley Polar. Geist's tense synth strings, full basslines and washed-out pads are an excellent match for Polar's breathy but understated singing on "Here In The Night" and "Black Hole," but the pair seems to lose the plot somewhat on slower numbers like "Matter Into Energy," which aims for gravitas but ends up sinking under its own meandering weight.