Earthbound

On his fourth release, and first of all-original material, Composer-producer Paul Schwartz explores themes inspired by the night. He generates a lush, dreamy sound that will appeal to fans of Enigma, William Orbit, and Caroline LaVelle. In fact, some of Earthbound echoes the feeling of LaVelle's 1995 album, Spirit, as well as Orbit's work on Madonna's Ray of Light.

Known for placing sampled and re-edited opera classics over orchestrations and dance grooves on the classical crossover hits Aria and Aria 2, Schwartz now invokes different combinations of neoclassical music, dance grooves, and ethereal pop, and he deploys a 30-piece orchestra on many of these new tracks. Vocalist Lisbeth Scott lends her talents to several compositions, including the poppy electronica of "The Dark of the Night" and the heavily orchestrated "Ravens," which features a haunting string melody to match the poignant and morose lyrics. Folk singer Tara MacLean sings on the downtempo pop of the title track, while the composer delivers a solemn piano "Nocturne" to end the album. While Earthbound treads a lot of familiar ground, Schwartz makes his nocturnal musings warm and welcoming. --Bryan Reesman