Kindred Spirits

Producers: Simon P., Ben Anthony, Alex McCubbin.
Engineers: Roger Benou, Greg Williams, Andrew Fryar.
A London-based groove collective in the spirit of Soul II Soul or Massive Attack, but with a slightly more acid jazz-influenced sound, Spirit Level is the brainchild of Simon P. and Alex McCubbin. Their first full album, following a couple years' worth of singles and compilation appearances, is on the uneven side (as most such albums are), but overall, slinky trip-hop ballads like "Isn't That Love" and spacy instrumental grooves like the Parliament-influenced "Solar Funk" outnumber duds like the woefully misnamed, limp, and sluggish "Dirty Little Funky Thing." Singer Kim Liat Edwards is an anonymous R&B diva, but this is a style of music that doesn't particularly require much in the way of a magnetic personality, and her vocals are thankfully free of the overemotive caterwauling that mars far too much R&B-based '90s music. Kindred Spirits is strictly for fans of the style, but it's not at all bad. ~ Stewart Mason