Album Review: Natural Self – My Heart Beats Like A Drum (Tru Thoughts)

Nathaniel Pearn, aka producer Keno-1, returns for his second album as Natural Self, on Brighton chill out label Tru Thoughts, which celebrates ten years in the game next month. There are some pretty good tracks on here, such as opener 'The Shock You Heard', which kicks things off downbeat, with a few sonic squiggles, and properly sets the scene. The Latin influenced 'Days Get Brighter', up next, is pacier, with its emotive sax, trumpet section and cow bell percussion, though it's next track 'Every Day' that really typifies the Natural Self sound for me. Half spoken half sung vocals are set on a backdrop with a pinch of beats and soul. On the subject of typifying sound, 'Midnight Sun', featuring Elodie Rama on vocals, has a real Tru Thoughts vibe about it. Less successful, 'Believer' is average, while the title track takes a while to get cracking and then becomes overly formulaic in nature. 'The Origin' takes us to the end in a slightly muddled fashion with a montage of samples simply laid on top of one another. On the whole, 'My Heart Beats Like A Drum' is quite a nice excursion into downtempo, but lacks a bit of spark at times. PV Buy from iTunes Buy from Amazon