Album review: Matthew E White, Outer Face (Spacebomb)

Available as a vinyl mini-album or as a 2CD package with the reissue of the acclaimed Big Inner album, Outer Face finds Matthew E White trimming back his Spacebomb house band for this five-song rumination on love. There's no guitar, piano or drums, just a smatter of puttering percussion, a prominent bassline, sleek swells of strings and quirky backing vocals behind his murmurous baritone croon. The formula, overly restrictive in places, works best on "Hot Hot Hot" and especially "In the Valley", where the pulsing delivery of the chorus develops a hypnotic allure.

Download: In the Valley; Hot Hot Hot; Eyes Like The Rest