Born in the groggy, morning after haze of a new millennium, there is something fittingly languid, contemplative and ephemeral about Zero 7’s 2001 debut. Or, to perhaps put it another way, schoolfriends Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker’s first record sculpts a sonic atmosphere that enraptures even as it slips your grasp; its mixture of jazz-inflected instrumentals and hushed vocal tracks caught somewhere between a dream and the soundtrack for a nonexistent movie. “Distractions” (one of two songs fronted by a young, pre-global domination Sia Furler) is the true north of this approach: a weightless miracle of space-age effects and pleading, supple soul. But former sound engineers Binns and Hardaker are just as adept at lyricless communication (just drink in the lush, soaring strings on “Polaris”). And Simple Things is ultimately—fittingly—a masterpiece of restraint, space and a subtle, whispered sort of beauty.
Tracklisting
- I Have Seen (5:06)
- Polaris (4:48)
- Destiny (5:37)
- Give It Away (5:17)
- Simple Things (4:24)
- Red Dust (5:40)
- Distractions (5:16)
- In The Waiting Line (4:32)
- Out Of Town (4:47)
- This World (5:36)
- Likufanele (6:24)
Apple Music
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Simple Things - Zero 7 (Full Album)
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Release Information
Key | Value |
---|---|
Wikipedia URL | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Things_(Zero_7_album) |
Format | Vinyl 2× LP Album Limited Edition Reissue Remastered (180gr Clear ) |
Label | New State Music |
Catalog Number | NEW9253LPC |
Notes | Ⓟ 2001 New State Music Ⓒ 2018 New State Music. Produced and Fleximixed at Shabang Studios. Part of HMV 1921 100th Anniversary Series. Limited to 500 copies |
Discogs URL | Zero 7 - Simple Things |