CD Reviews

Gui Boratto | Take My Breath Away

Kompakt (2009)

By DEVIN KING | March 3, 2009

1.0 Stars

Gui Boratto's 2007 debut, Chromophobia, was a pop crossover because of its string of 2 am dance anthems — song after song channeled the dancer's moment of chemical elation (natural or otherwise) by overlaying contrasting rhythms and harmonic colors.

On Take My Breath Away, he distills this passion for momentum and creates a rhythmically simpler record; the songs rise and rise without questioning their jiggling stomp. This isn't problematic per se (the record is supposed to make you dance, not make you think about dancing), but to keep things interesting, Boratto relies on a mawkish harmonic consonance that tires the ear as much as it energizes the body.

The peak track, "No Turning Back," works because it adds the distorted voice of a blasè diva, scaling back the song's tone (somewhere between a new Christian anthem and John Williams's Olympic fanfare) as well as drawing your focus away from uninspired instrument choices: distorted synth, reverbed piano, tinny guitar straight out of the '80s, hissy cymbals. This may work as a singles record, but it lacks the depth to hold much interest.

Related: Technophilia, Various Artists | Pop Ambient, Thomas Fehlmann | Gute Luft, More

Topics: CD Reviews , Gui Boratto, Gui Boratto, Gui Boratto, More

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