UNKLE - NEVER, NEVER, LAND

I had two conflicting emotions going on in my head when I first heard that James Lavelle was releasing another UNKLE project. On one hand, I was extremely excited. I really dug Psyence Fiction, as it was an album way ahead of its time; truly groundbreaking. The guest talent alone on that first album was an amazing feat in and of itself, let alone the fact that it was all handled by none other than DJ Shadow. And that brings me to my second and conflicting thought. This new album, Never, Never, Land, was completely void of Shadow\'s influential hand. And that scared me.
\"Will I like it?\" I wondered. \"Will it be as thorough and complete as the first album? Will the man who replaced Shadow, Richard File, be able to make something even half as good? And what about the guest musicians this time around? Will they fit in just as perfectly as before, or stick out like a sore thumb? And why am I suddenly hungry for Mexican food? Mmmm... Mexican food. Delicious.\"
So imagine my surprise when I returned from Rudy\'s Mexican Restaurant and placed Never, Never, Land in my CD player. As it turns out, I had nothing to worry about.
This second installment is a perfect follow-up to the first album. That\'s not to say it\'s the same as the first. In fact, that\'s one of the cool things about it. It\'s its own beast, its own monster. And it is similar enough to still obviously be an UNKLE project, but different enough to work on its own and take the UNKLE evolution one step further.
\"Eye For An Eye\" is an apocalyptic dirge of haunting poetry and musical transformations, coming together to form a healthy marriage of instrumentation and sampling. \"Safe In Mind (Please Take This Gun From Out My Face)\" is a dark and dirty Bowie-esque tune, with Queens Of The Stone Age\'s Josh Homme delivering a deep vocal punch to the listener\'s eardrums. And \"Invasion\" sounds like it was ripped directly off a Massive Attack album... primarily because Massive Attack\'s 3D contributed to the track with a heavy hand.
The one thing that stands out about the new disc is that Never, Never, Land seems a bit more clubby than Psyence Fiction. This isn\'t necessarily a bad thing, because I do indeed like to shake my thang. But I think Shadow may have handled the material in a slightly more subdued manner.
So, this new UNKLE incarnation of Lavelle and File is a welcome one. If you liked the first album, chances are you\'ll like this. But if you haven\'t heard the first disc... you obviously live in a cave or your mom\'s basement. Regardless, don\'t let that keep you from seeking this new disc out.
Now, if you\'ll excuse me, I have this sudden craving for a burrito.