Simon Green celebrates a decade of downtempo pioneering with his third full-length release for Ninja Tune. It's a sophisticated, mature work that at times hearkens back to the genre's roots with the deceptively simple groove of "The Keeper." Elsewhere, though, the emphasis is on moving forward, expanding electronic music's pan-globalism with the Asian-themed, string-filled album opener "Kiara." Tracks like "We Could Forever" and "Animals" have benefited from Green's touring with live musicians, and show off a new sort of energy and infectiousness. Last year might have been marked by some critically mediocre releases by other big name electronic acts, but Black Sands is solid.
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