专辑简介

XIV is expanding the boundaries of the Trip Hop and Down Tempo genres with their sophomore release. "Theta" retains the dark and dreamy film-score quality of their first release with tracks like "Drain" and "Woe is Me", but ventures into new territory with the faster pace of tracks like "Here I Stand" and "What It's Like". Many of the fourteen new tracks on this release (like "Either/Or" and "Interruption") have an anthem like quality which have earned XIV recognition from a wider audience. The hit single "Concrete Flowers" is featured on San Diego's "Staring at the Sun" compilation and is being played by San Diego radio stations like KPRI.

Though each track on the album can easily stand alone, there is a continuous flow to "Theta" as though each song was a single movement in a greater symphony. Tony Sandoval's pulsing bass provides the steady foundation from which the album's diverse architecture is built. At times the beats crunch and pound, while at others they skip and flutter. The guitar, keyboard and trumpet work of Nathan L. Samuels is always present to accent the sexy and soulful voice of Kelly Samuels. Her lyrics are deep and passionate. They seem as if they spring naturally from the notes themselves. The end of the album is like the final page of a classic novel, leaving one with a paradoxical mixture of yearning and satisfaction.