Listening to "Sunday 8 PM," Faithless' second album, is like stepping into an airy, chilly room. It's a record of languorous grooves, soft beats and sparse computer effects. For this British quintet, a mere tempo change can signal a genre shift: from reggae dub to trip-hop and then to moody pop. You know, the usual electronica. And even though Faithless confront emotional wreckage in "Why Go?" (with Boy George on guest vocals) and crank up the rhythms in "She's My Baby" and the deep-house track "God Is a DJ," it's all a little too neat and antiseptic. Think Massive Attack or Portishead – without the innovation. Even "Killer's Lullabye" and "Bring My Family Back," tours of the tortured-male psyche, are dulled by bland drum programming and generic rapping. If only Faithless had let a few bruises show through. (RS 799)

ERNEST HARDY