For a Space, an electronic project of Sebastian Ullmann, really impressed me with the album “Secrets behind”, an album full of elegant moody electronica. These tracks were already recorded in 1998. Meanwhile Ullmann was also active as Polyspace, a collaboration with Polygon. It was time for a new For a Space album though. “Civilian on battlefield” goes further on similar musical paths, though my general impression is that the music has become more accessible and poppier.
Compared to his previous work, these new songs are much lighter and less melancholic. Expect a mixture of electronic pop, triphop and downtempo house, with midtempo beats and atmospheric ambient layers. An instrumental piece like ‘Opener’ makes me think of chill out Cafe del Mar music. Where his previous work was dominantly instrumental, a prominent role is this time given to female vocals by Juliane Wilde. Her pleasant voice enforces the laidback, relaxing character of this disc. At times she even sounds a bit jazzy and reminds me a bit of Björk or Portishead.
“Civilian on battlefield” contains 50 minutes of pleasant, floating electronic music, which is well excuted, though I must confess that the sound is a bit too smooth and loungy for me at times. The last two moody songs, ‘Snowscape’ and ‘Underneath’. answer that concern with more experimental structures.
