Engineers

The cascading waves of sound that constitute the songs on Engineers' self-titled debut contain lyrics, but they're almost entirely beside the point. For almost 50 minutes, these Londoners deliver the aural equivalent of those overpriced Sharper Image relaxation chairs: soothing, tranquil, easy to mock -- but hard to resist once...

By Tim Grierson

June 23, 2005

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The cascading waves of sound that constitute the songs on Engineers' self-titled debut contain lyrics, but they're almost entirely beside the point. For almost 50 minutes, these Londoners deliver the aural equivalent of those overpriced Sharper Image relaxation chairs: soothing, tranquil, easy to mock -- but hard to resist once you've settled in. When Simon Phipps opens his mouth to sing, his unthreatening delivery acts as one more dreamy pop element -- he brings the human longing to "Home;" he adds urgency to the band's pleas for "Forgiveness." With their mesmerizing orchestrations, the quartet risk derogatory comments about trance rock, but on tracks like "Come In Out of the Rain," the band steadily increases the sonic intensity until the choruses sound like direct messages from the heavens. Too much of this psychedelic ear candy would put you in a coma, but in limited doses, Engineers will significantly decrease feelings of anxiety and depression within one hour.

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