Having released music on a number of collectable and well-respected imprints, Praveen Sharma is at long last ready to deliver his debut feature-length release for Neo Ouija. Although the sound here is firmly rooted in electronic music tradition, Praveen imbues each of the 9 tracks with a warm density and honesty that positions it at the polar extreme to 'pre-set' IDM. The opener "Sad sad day" is filled with melancholy, and yet an overriding sense of expectation emerges as the presiding feeling. Music in this zone takes its time - 'Float' could almost be a credo for this, settling down next to a fire with an approach that will be familiar to all lovers of Kompakt's Pop Ambient series. Its almost impolite when programmed bass and drums intrude on the sound settling like ash, but they learn to get along somehow. 'Haze' relishes one of the more addictive melody lines of recent times, and 'Melody' brings Praveen's main preoccupation centre stage - again expect nothing hurried, this is sedate, carefully unfolding music. Co-opting apparently dissonant frequencies into a coherent whole is the strategy on 'Real memories', while 'New Lovers' blooms into a soft utterance, a strummed guitar echoing the optimism of the title. 'Please begin' shows that darker textures can function next to the pillowy ambient from Praveen, perfectly balanced by the delicate sound of a drumstick on cymbal. "Piano in a hurricane" ends a distinctive debut with not a whimper, but a gentle caress.