I got a little scared that I’d left this album off my 1997 list - turns out it was released in 1998! - but it might be my favorite “new to me” discovery of the past few years. The sounds of this album just hit me as so original, such a balance between totally digestible beats and experimental tracks that pushed entire genres forward. It’s the album that taught me what Trip Hop was, and that it’s something I want to listen to a hell of a lot more of. I would have absolutely devoured this as a music-discovering kid if I’d known about it at the time - but fortunately for me, I’ve grown up approximately zero percent since I was fourteen and so I think I’m still getting the full experience.

This album is so immersive, like jumping in a pool and hearing the rush of the bubbles past your ears, not being able to focus on anything else. I love the dreamy, floating vocals from Elizabeth Frazer of Cocteau Twins on several songs, I love the grimy feeling of the beats. As Frazer sings on “Teardrop” : “love, love is a verb / love is a doing word”. In this case, that doing means spinning this album every chance I get.

From the roundup Greatest Albums of 1998.