- reviews
Emusic.com
Alternately sweet and sinister, 46bliss blend bubbling dance beats with gauzy synths and ethereal vocals to make gleaming pop for the 21st Century. Their strength is in the paired vocals of David Cooper and Clare Venoit, the former rough and reedy, the later cool and elegant. "Three Days to Live" recalls the eerier moments in the Depeche Mode catalog, with pinpricks of synth and a barely-there beat; "Desire Give Way" is anchored in a fat bass synth and ricochet rhythm and "Inner Sensation" pitches and rolls like the ocean.
Indie-Music.com - April 2nd 2005
By Kevan Breitinger
David Cooper, Clare Veniot, and Jack Freudenheim are 46bliss, the sophisticated electronica band taking over the pop culture landscape by stealth, and not a moment too soon. Showing up on Fox-TV’s Jonny Zero and UPN’s Veronica Mars is one thing, but when the Washington Post does a front page story on their culture assault, it’s official. 46bliss is on the move.
Clare Veniot’s stunning vocals open “In a Long Time” beautifully, setting an ambiance of ethereal mystery. Her velvety tone is perfectly suited for these dreamy soundscapes of taut melodies and throbbing beats. The hypnotically pulsating “Desire Give Way” was featured on Jonny Zero, immediately instigating a flurry of activity on FOX-TV’s website. Electronica band of high excellence spotted on airwaves, high alert. The smoldering “Love in Vision” brings more punchy-pop rhythms to the party, guitar riffs escalating throughout as Jack Freudenheim’s driving percussives keep their feet to the fire.
The richly textured “Yabaseo” stands out for its jungle sounds, percolating rhythms, and sweet strings. This music, each song, is filled with a confident, sensuous complexity; not a tune falls short. The deliberate discordance of “Three Days to Live” only adds to the haunting questions posed in the passionate lyrics. The spacey intro to “Inner Sensation” sets you up for the insistent rock groove to come. This tune is followed perfectly by the spooky subterranean “The Way You Are (Part 2)." 46bliss has put together a palette of solid, mesmerizing works that can only whet your appetite for more. Don’t miss this one.
Splendid Ezine (www.splendidezine.com)
For an unsigned band whose members rarely meet face to face (they live in different towns), 46bliss sure know how to push their music. Their songs have been featured on UPN's Veronica Mars, Fox's Jonny Zero, and CBS's Joan of Arcadia. Fortunately, the music has a longer shelf life than the shows that promoted it. With an often chill club vibe below and a soothing, ethereal voice above, 46bliss is best served with a dry martini and the company of good friends.
"In A Long Time" opens the disc with an airy guitar lick, spacy synths and vocalist Clare Veniot, whose voice floats across the soundscape, untouchable and clean. Her singing is equal parts innocent and professional, a perfect fit for the music created by bandmates David Cooper and Jack Freudenheim. Sonically impeccable, their compositions arrive like Air gone commercial -- dreamy atmospherics, strong hooks and a strange mix of familiarity and déjà vu.
"Desire Give Way" puts a bouncy guitar riff at its base, bolsters it with upbeat drums and a slippery bass, and lets it run. Programmed percussion runs among the multiple layers, alongside Veniot's stellar vocal. As additional voices join the mix, the music takes on a darker tinge, hinting at unexplored corners and destinations. The beat and tone hold through "Love In Vision", which puts Cooper's vocals front and center. Like Veniot, he has a clean, emotionally spare voice that suits the music perfectly. There isn't a moment in this spit-shined song, or the album overall, that doesn't sound purpose-built and fine-tuned. The result is a stunning (if, for some tastes, excessively polished) mix of music.
46bliss have obviously put an obscene amount of effort into the album, and it shows. It's a perfect chillout album, and deserves to dominate every nightclub whose DJ is smart enough to spin it.
AudioLunchBox.com – Judy Kushner
The band's two excellend slow-grooving openers (In A Long Time and Desire Give Way) cross Pet Shop Boys melodies with Morcheeba funk. “Love In Vision” starts out placid, but quickly segues into a pop rock song with palpable U2 and Doorl-like influences. “The Way You Are”, which should be called “Put Yourself In My Place” (listen and you'll see why) is the perfect late-night buzz track. Yabaseo is electronica in its purest sense, recalling both Lemon Jelly and Blue Flame. “Kalimba”, however, is the album's centerpiece and most perfect track: slow congas, a sexy Clare Veniot, and the Hammond keyboard xylophone brilliance of David Cooper. “Inner Sesnation” creates yet another mood, sounding like the best song that XTC never wrote.
The lyrics may not be terribly memorable but the album's poetry comes from the mood it creates (however for the record, I think the phrase Put Yourself in my place is a very reasonable request).
Try not to judge (or dismiss these songs) by their previews. 46Bliss is meant to be enjoyed from front to back, start to finish, beginning to end: an excellent dinner companion with or without company.