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Oct 17, 2014 Web Exclusive By Billy Hamilton

Describing Kindness‘s debut album was no easy task. Was it hip-hop? Was it R&B? Was it dance? Nobody really quite knew. But World, You Need a Change of Mind was such an intriguing record that it didn’t matter. Its creator, Adam Bainbridge, was undeniably a star in the making.

Fast-forward two years and it’s surprising to find Bainbridge hasn’t managed to kick on. Album number two, Otherness, takes up the same smoky jazz-bar façade of its predecessor, yet displays little of the rhythmic guile that brought Kindness to a wider airspace.

It has sleek vestiges of production and it is composed with typical sonic flair, but there’s a dead air to languid cuts such as “Who Do You Love?” and “With You” that directly contrasts with their warm narratives. Even in the textured acoustic flicker of “For the Young,” there is a lack of ambiance.

The bass-heavy coruscation of album fade-out “It’ll Be Ok” belatedly stirs a pulse, but it’s a rare glimmer on a record that suffers a dearth of imagination. At least this time Otherness is a touch easier to define: disappointing. (www.kindness.es)

Author rating: 4/10