It just turned summer, but here?s the first fall album already. Helios is England?s Keith Kenniff who had recorded a much more electronic sounding album for the Merck label as well as another album for Type under the moniker of Goldmund last year.

?Eingya? is a fairly simple album. Kenniff plays some guitar, some piano and adds some effects as well as subtle computer beats. There is nothing spectacular about it. There are thousands other ?bedroom electronica? artists working the same way and producing similar music. Not everyone is able to pull off such an introvertedly dreamy and beautiful album as Kenniff did with ?Eingya? though. Helios tracks are slowly unfolding elegies, which might start out a bit muffled and hazy, but quickly display their charme. The only elements that are almost always crystal clear are Kenniff?s guitar and piano, both of which he plays with great precision. His piano and guitar playing is also what sets Helios? tracks apart from his peers. He?s got a great feeling for melancholic melodies that touch the border to tackiness from time to time, but mostly stay on the safe side. Only on ?Coast Off? and ?First Dream Called Ocean? and maybe in one or two other moments, Kenniff takes it too far and produces rather mediocre new age music that could also be by someone like Enya.

Helios? better tracks are a celebration of the beauties of life though and leave a very positive feeling. If only he would have left out some of the kitsch present on his album, ?Eingya? could have been a definite statement for this year?s second half. 7/10 -- Stephan Bauer (10 July, 2006)