In a world where the trip-hop genre is full of rhythmic and filimic atmospherics Alpha's 1997 debut album 'Come From Heaven' conveyed a great strength of feeling; offering heart-breaking melodies helped along by Burt Bacharach samples and some outstanding vocal performances. Four years down the line the formula has changed somewhat and become far less sample heavy; making way for a brought-in orchestra. Under the self-enforced pressure of conjuring up their own tunes many of the tracks here struggle to rise above string-laden ordinariness. The general air of dreaminess encapsulated on the first album has now become soporific where memorable moments are few and far between. True, there are some good peformances here, most notably the other-wordly choir on the finale 'Fort', Martin Barnard's vocals on 'Dim' and Clear Sky' and the otherwise workmanlike outing for Wendy Stubbs on the Broadcast-like 'Eon' but even these fail to reach the heights of their previous work. Next time it is hoped that Alpha can recover their former sense of orginality and brilliance because this has to go down as a disappointment.