beautiful days.

Zero 7 is currently the soundtrack to my life. And I love it.

The particular album is called Simple Things - I owe thanks to a new friend for giving the music to me.

I listen to it when I'm on the train to and from the city, and it works as a great bedtime album, when I need to relax and drift off to sleep. As the days grow shorter, and the weather takes a cool turn into autumn, this chillout music is the perfect backdrop for the peaceful sunny days at home.

The album begins with a great combination of bass and drum licks, which is the introduction to the opening track "I Have Seen". The music grabs me as soon as it starts, and it's great. The bass and drums keep the song moving, and the pulse is just right. Not too fast, not too slow.

Track 04, "Give it Away", features on the Ministry of Sound 2002 Chillout Annual, which I first heard sometime in 2003 or 04, thanks to another good friend of mine. The song is one of my favourites from that 2-cd set, and until now I didn't know or care who the group was, because it was a compilation cd (and I also had no tracklisting for the album). But as soon as I heard the song on Simple Things, I knew that I was going to like Zero 7 a lot. Needless to say, the album has grown on me and I can't get enough of it.

The music takes me to another world. It helps me find a peaceful place within myself, and I love that. Each song also has a personality that sticks out in my mind, which is unusual of chillout music - I find that it all tends to sound the same after a while. So the music on this album is special to me. It makes me think of cool autumn days, sunny but not summery; relaxations in the park, sharing time with myself and writing in my journal or perhaps reading a book; and generally escaping the world and greater responsibilities for a few moments.