Prize Fighter

Odia are an international trio who recorded this, their debut album, without actually meeting in person. Founder member Stuart Spence (a tutor at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) took on the roles of producer and arranger, also playing bass, synth, keys and percussion. French violinist Perrine Missemer features on fiddle and strings while Malaysian musician Faliq Auri provides uilleann pipes, whistles and flute.

The opening track ‘Into the Light’ is a promising overture, suggesting we might be entering the sonic territory of Dreadzone, Bonobo or Anchorsong. I was hopeful that Odia might capture some of the energy, mystique and charm of the best of electronic music but the title-track, with its spoken word section of positive affirmations and motivational self-talk, left me wondering whether it was meant to be serious or ironically humorous. After that, the album becomes a blur of beats, with flourishes of fiddles and pipes sprinkled generously throughout. Despite the perfectly accomplished musicianship on show Prize Fighter fails to fulfil its promise of a compelling album of Celtic-infused electronica.