In the international waters somewhere between new age and electronic dance music lives Balearic, the breezy, vaguely defined chillout music inspired by the Mediterranean archipelago of the same name. Years prior to his relocation to the Balearic island of Ibiza, British DJ/producer
Mark Barrott
was already imbuing his drum'n'bass music with a fairly bright tropical palette as
Future Loop Foundation
. After retiring that project in 2009, he spent a few years leaking softer Balearic and nu disco-inspired singles under colorful pseudonyms like
Young Gentlemen's Adventure Society
and
Boys from Patagonia
via his own
International Feel
label. Finally shedding his guise in 2014,
Barrott
collated these tracks into the first volume of his
Sketches from an Island
series, marking the first time he'd released an album under his given name. Following a 2015 EP, confusingly titled
Sketches from an Island, Vol. 3
, he returns in 2016 with the full-length
Vol. 2
. A further expansion of his
Sketches
series, this volume is, if anything, even more low-key than its predecessors, with
further distancing himself from dance music and reveling in the island's natural flavors. Amid the hushed synths, percussive marimba tones, and gently plucked guitars, bird calls ring out, mingling with the music's easy pulse. At his best, like on the stuttering kalimba and bamboo flute-laden "Over at Dieter's Place" and the near-mystical buildup of "Der Stern, der Nie Vergeht,"
creates enchanting, easily digestible rhythmic soundscapes that recall the golden era of pre-gift shop new age music. The more outwardly Balearic chillout tracks like "Brunch with Suki" and "Driving to Cap Negret" feel a bit more like Ibeza hangover helpers and pass by without much notice. Fortunately, they are the minority on this otherwise winsome set. ~ Timothy Monger