<em>On</em> is the second in a triptych of releases from ambient specialist Markus Mehr. Whereas the first, <em>In</em>, concentrated on two lengthy pieces clocking in at about twenty five minutes each, <em>On</em> contains a mammoth eight tracks but stylistically it’s an almost seamless follow-up from Mehr.

The most startling factor about <em>On</em> is its choice of song titles. ‘I’m Gonna Make You Love Me’ may leave the audience fearing the thought of a 1980s soul crooner being brought in on guest vocals, rather than the fairly abrasive selection of glitchy beats which arrives instead. Taking a relatively delicate approach, ‘Flaming Youth’ hardly classifies as easy listening but its harshness is negated with a sample which has a touch of Bacharach and David about it.

Thereafter the hard and the soft layers of music become a common theme. To the untrained ear, ‘Barcelona Waltz’ may sound like a noise but – rather like listening to records by The Jesus And Mary Chain or My Bloody Valentine – peel back the layers and there is melody and beauty to behold. Only at one point does the album lose its flow when the cartoon-like antics of ‘Olympia’ come to the fore but by the time of the dramatic finale, ‘Tunnels’ (pumelling rhythms duelling against elegant piano keys), Mehr’s weird sense of order is restored.

<em>On</em> is the aural equivalent of the sinking of <em>The Titanic</em> as a once mighty vessel fights valiantly to stay afloat whilst chaos ensues around it. Happily though, Celine Dion does not feature this time and if the final part of the trilogy maintains the standard of the first two, the final destination should be well worth a visit.

<a href="http://leonardslair.wordpress.com/2012/08/05/review-markus-mehr-on/" target="_blank">Leonard's Lair</a>