Emotional Technology
Structurally, BT’s fourth album plays like a classic rock mishmash of yesteryear. The sounds are all over the map, from the breakbeats on "Knowledge of Self" to the dance invite, "Force of Gravity," featuring a gleefully distorted vocal by ‘N Sync’s JC Chasez. Emotional Technology’s centerpiece and soul come in the form of "Dark Heart Dawning" and "The Great Escape," two of his more abstract pieces. The former quivers with a droning, Radioheadish sense of adventure (with instrumental backing provided by Guns N’ Roses’ rhythm section) slowly yielding to an unexpected gospel coda. The latter goes almost gothic with layers of cello (provided by Fortus) cushioning a reverberating piano line and Caroline Lavelle’s lush vocal. Ninety seconds in, the song takes a left-hand turn into uptempo territory with sparkling computerized embellishment. Lest the proceedings get too arcane, BT returns to earth with the playful "Paris," which features a raspier, untethered vocal. Actually, it’s the singing on Emotional Technology that lingers longest. BT lets loose on several tracks, gleefully strutting his stuff as a frontman singing with hard rock abandon on "Circles." Despite the Stones jones, BT doesn’t exile his classical breeding, which is too embedded to be completely buried beneath his rawk inklings. At seventy-eight minutes, Emotional Technology gets a bit long in the tooth, but you get the feeling that the myriad streams of sound -- high and low, organic and digital -- that pass between (and through) his ears, have finally nestled together in a grandiose manner he envisioned.Andrew Dansby--From URB Magazine