2 1/2

Although average, it is a consistent, high-brow mediocrity. The group continues to focus on production technique at the expense of creating memorable tunes, which initially brought them into the spotlight on their debut. Here, although consistently "pleasant enough" to suffice as background coffee shop fodder, barely anything sticks to memory and what does still comes up emotionally superficial.

This is a wonderful unusual new music. Where most music is canned, packaged, and group surveyed this feels clean and alive. They are an amazing group of talented musicians, gifted singers with some amazingly alive songs.

I am new to this group, and I freakin' love the Garden. I guess given the other reviews, I should go and listen to their other stuff, but as an introduction, I'm totally enamored.

Zero 7's first two albums embody the warmest melancholy I've ever heard, the musical crack when a frown is bent into a smile, the slight hum when the sighs of the heart are torqued from end to end into a bass and treble clef. Fans of the UK-based duo will know what I'm talking about: never has distant sun seemed so cool, never have lonely breezes brushed so warm.

"The Garden" is an interesting turn for the group. They've traded in Simple Things for a complex cornucopia of backyard flora. Their normally cascading melodies have each been caught When It Falls and planted into sunny soil, well-watered, loamy, rich, healthy. The result is certainly beautiful, even if it doesn't sway with the same sweet bitterness that made the first two records such deep, soulful successes.

You still have the duo's uncanny ability to mold a tune, and Shia's unmistakable pipes are still present, but now there's an almost Playskool type of playfulness to songs with lyrics and titles that are less than sunny. "Waiting To Die" sounds like an adult's nursery rhyme. "You're My Flame" is a brassy, brash digi-pop ditty. "Throw It All Away," with its muted trumpets and synthesized swoops, is about as groovy as Zero 7 gets, with a smirk thrown in to boot. And "The Pageant of the Bizarre"? It sounds exactly like the name implies; like a circus calliope that's been retro-fitted with a few extra pipes.

The group's usual simmer isn't gone. "Crosses," "If I Can't Have You," "This Fine Social Scene," and "Futures" are all reminiscent of the early years of Zero 7. But in keeping with this new, deep-rooted direction, the tunes all bristle with a new, restless energy. The trademark instrumentals suffer some under the buzz ("Your Place" gets a bit big-bandish), but the vocalized songs flourish under this brand new solarity.

As a long-time fan of Zero7, I - like many others - was very anxious to see what lay in store in their third outing; the cover art and name reving up my expectations of something incredible. My experience, though, was one of fairly great disappointment. Z7 has always been a sort of categorical doppelganger to Air, in my eyes (and ears). Both pioneers in the chillout genre, both Duos, and both usually releasing albums within close proximity of each-other. Air has always been the more experimental group, traveling through avant-garde circles. Zero7 has served to balance the spectrum by providing very accessible albums that you can simply put on and listen to in almost any situation, while also appreciating the sophistication and artistry in their work. They (joined only by Thievery Corporation) have been almost sonic-diplomats, helping to bring this style of music to those on the fence who would never listen to the more polarized musings of, say, Goldfrapp.

All of that said, I just found this album to be boring and unrewarding. Some reviewers have made comparisons to both 60's and 80's music, but if anything I think most of the songs here suffer from a very 2-dimensional assemblage of tired disco beats and surprisingly vacant lyrics. In fact, about the only song I enjoy listening to is "Futures". For some, the more up-beat nature of 'The Garden' may be exactly what they needed to get into Zero7, as Simple Things and When It Falls contained very hushed and intimate soundscapes. I'm not one of those people. It felt contrived (although sincere in concept), and more than anything, annoying. The change of vocalists could have been done interestingly, but they failed at this, and produced a very flat sound.
Change is vital in the growth of any good musician, but in that process there are always missteps, and to me that's exactly what 'The Garden' is. But I do hope they will change course again before the next album, or I won't be buying it either.