★★★☆☆

Chillout and post-cosmic disco with a bluegrass slide this is the sound of a duo taking flight. Jamie Paton and Nigel Hoyle nestle in a hutch of guitar-strummed easiness and reassuring nostalgic so you’re comfortable, at one with the world, enjoying the scenery. When the beats get more leaden, such as with the psych rock-driven “In Todd We Trust,” you’re turfed off the couch, the thin line between timeless and dated beginning to shift.

As Migration becomes a game of what-happens-next, the big standouts/sore thumbs are Cage & Aviary declaring themselves as fans of ’80s R&B. “Infatuation” and the acid-rubbed “Lean On Me” are authentic, but they add a confusion to a sprawling running order, having re-prepared yourself already, and are pushing towards a migration too far in an ever-turning album of trip hop, dub and baggy house. Old arguments about dance and guitars resurface, and the relaxation is turned into a choppy trip that isn’t flying you off to any brave or radical dimensions.

If the duo are looking to throw surprise tactics at you, they’re onto something, teasing you one more time with the electro wanders of the title track and “The Smackdown” showing they cannot land in one place for too long.
File under: Prins Thomas, LCD Soundsystem, Boozoo Bajou