Bloom begins with
Junkie XL's terrific remix of the
Afterglow track "World on Fire." He trashes the hopeful chording of the original nearly completely, instead floating
Sarah McLachlan's vocals over a taut guitar line for an addictive mixture of tension and atmosphere. Book it: this track will resurface as the setup music for a wirework shootout in some Matrix-style film of the very near future. Unfortunately the set is flawed from there on out. It has some good ideas but often doesn't develop them, and takes the generic trance route much too willingly. It's true that
McLachlan's breathy, warmly ethereal style is a great overlay for trance and progressive house productions. But some of
Bloom's remixers rely on the broadest of stylistic clichés in their application of her voice. "Vox," a track from
McLachlan's 1989 debut,
Touch, is an interesting choice for
Bloom. But
Tom Middleton wastes it with a bouncing mechanistic template that's so transparent it might as well be
DJ Sammy.
Hyper doesn't fare any better with the
Afterglow track "Stupid," and former hit single "Fallen" is robbed of its homespun grace by
Gabriel & Dresden. A bit of the song's melody remains, but it's stretched like an overworked twist-tie across canned percussive ticks and the stale warble of pulsing trance synths. Unlike
XL's take on "Fire," these tracks rob
McLachlan of her vitality, reducing her to a faceless trance diva. There's a similar problem with
will.i.am's "Just Like Me," where
McLachlan is the disembodied chorus voice for what's essentially a passably entertaining
Black Eyed Peas song. (The
Harry Chapin-copped chorus goes nowhere, and
DMC is a non-factor.) Fortunately
Bloom has some highlights.
Sly & Robbie come through with their take on "Train Wreck," keeping the original's pace but adding bright keyboard stabs and a burbling bassline for a subtle pop/R&B feel.
Junior Boys' "Fumbling Toward Ecstasy" also builds a promising, vaguely threatening sort of atmosphere, similar to the feel
McLachlan gave some of the tracks on that record, and
Talvin Singh adds tasteful tabla drums and sitars to the gentle "Answer." Ultimately
Bloom is about as adventurous as its artwork, which by not featuring
McLachlan herself suggests the average forgettable trance or downtempo comp. But at least it has its moments, and completist fans will probably want these remixes in their collections.