Sanctuary

William Orbit is better known for other people's music than his own. He engineered Madonna's late-Nineties comeback by producing "Ray of Light," her Grammy-winning album of plugged-in pop, and when an LP under his own name actually moved units, it was comprised of covers of classical music stalwarts like Beethoven and Barber.
 
It shouldn't be this way, because as "Hello Waveforms" proves, Orbit's a talented instrumentalist. A proponent of ambient music, Orbit's work here contains' if not relies heavily upon' all his signature flourishes: warm, rich textures; spacey electronic bleeps; and layers of heavenly melody.
 
The opening "Sea Green" sets the stage perfectly for one of the more laid-back hours you can experience without the aid of a muscle relaxant, and is representative of Orbit's overall ProTools-savvy style. Four tracks employ vocals; not surprisingly, they're the weakest of the bunch, because the man's music speaks volumes when it doesn't say anything at all.
 
- Rod Lott