Faultline

Prolific producer David Kosten's second solo album positions Faultline as yet another in a line of electronic musicians who excel in blending moody tones with guest vocals. The list of collaborators on Your Love Means Everything is quite impressive. Guests include Michael Stipe, Wayne Coyne from the Flaming Lips, Chris Martin from Coldplay, newcomer Jacob Golden, and ex-Verve guitarist Nick McCabe. It's the songs which enlist the help of Kosten's famous admirers that really sparkle and take off. Chris Martin's pensive vocal delivery on "Where Is My Boy" and the title track suggest a more subtle, introspective take on Coldplay. The sweeping, glitchy "Bitter Kiss" works like an electro-Western ballad, thanks to Jacob Golden's touching Thom Yorke-like falsetto. Wayne Coyne's fractured, brittle lullaby might not reach the peaks of Sparklehorse, but the song works slight magic as a creepy, sad passion play. Michael Stipe appears to be having fun on "Greenfields"; his haunted voice makes for a mystical, almost Christmas-like mood. The only problem, and it's a minor one, with the album's many instrumental songs is that they seem somewhat emotionally vacant. It's as if the songs are crying out to be used as film score material. That's not to say that Kosten isn't a fine sonic sculptor, because he wields electronics and traditional instruments like an ace, but there is a sense that something is missing. Songs like "Clocks" and "I Know Myself" work just fine as background music, and the strengths of the songs with vocals can't help but bring the instrumental tracks down a notch. Your Love Means Everything is a fine album, and one guesses that given the right set of circumstances and more first-rate collaborators, Faultline's star should continue to shine. [This U.K. version of the album includes bonus material.] ~ Tim DiGravina, All Music Guide