Ulrich Schnauss is often fêted as being one of the few dreampop/shoegaze acts with respect from the general press. Surprisingly 'Goodbye' is only his third long player. Also surprisingly, it doesn't bring much to the genre that hasn't already been covered.

Schnauss wears his influences clearly on hsi sleeve. 'Never Be The Same' recalls the early work of Lush thanks to its sighed vocals and sumptuous effects-laden melody but 'Medusa' is a rather ugly attempt to update the My Bloody Valentine template for the digital age. 'Shine' is better as there's a genuine level of euphoria as the chorus reaches its crescendo, 'Stars' is uptempo and multi-layered like a cut from last year's excellent 'Connectivity!' by Mahogany whilst 'Einfeld' is a beautifully elegant instrumental piece. Yet in the second half of the record, there's a definite decline in quality. It begins with 'Here Today Gone Tomorrow'; a track lost in a world of artificial dynamics and from here Schnauss seems to be going through the motions. All this leads to an album caught halfway between genuinely dreamy atmospherics and the faux emotion of M83.