Genre Peak

Moving forward without two thirds of the original trio, Martin Birke replaces Daniel Panasenko and Stephen Sullivan with co-producer and guitarist Christopher Scott Cooper, as well as a slew of guest artists. Bringing new life to Genre Peak’s atmospheric trance pop, Mick Karn, Tara C. Taylor, Gustaf Fjelstrom, Kiss & Fly and Stereoskop expand Birke’s exotic soundscapes and low riding rhythms. Maintaining an overarching seriousness initiated by the machinegun pulse and half-spoken lyrics of opener "Hell On The Surface,” Birke’s solo or Cooper-backed instrumentals, such as "Rama” and "People Go Missing All The Time,” are where Preternatural shines. While the larger collaborations are the most musically buoyant, for the most part the vocals are lost in Birke’s too well executed and too prominent sound design. The exceptions being the narration above the jungle drums in "Amena” and Taylor’s vocals in "Wear It Well,” a song that seems as if it walked right off a Kate Bush album.