Zero 7’s ability to conjure beautiful lullabies with all the romance of 1960s French pop, as found on their debut long-player ‘Simple Things’, made them the toast of soundtrack composers and chillout connoisseurs the world over. Their debut is a truly gorgeous album. All the tried and tested atmospheric tricks are in play – bleeps and whooshes layered over plodding Fender Rhodes chords, swathes of strings and tender trumpet parps – but it’s Binns and Hardaker’s languid grooves and the soft melancholy of their melodies that make dream-state instrumentals ‘Give It Away’ and ‘Polaris’ utterly enchanting. The real power of ‘Simple Things’, however, is in its songs. As beautiful as their ambient strains are, it’s when laid beneath the seductive vocals of Australian diva Sia on the ethereal ‘Destiny’ or the heart breaking ‘Distractions’ that their potency becomes apparent.

This vinyl only Simple Things re-issue will mirror the original release, cut over 4 sides and using the original artwork but now pressed on heavyweight 180g vinyl. Cutting is by engineer Kevin Metcalfe using his original cutting notes. Simple Things is a timelessly classic album and the essential soundtrack to any laidback summer chilling.

Zero 7 were formed in 1997 by producers Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker. In 2001 their debut album Simple Things was released selling over a million copies to date and was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. Zero 7 were also nominated as Best Newcomer at the Brit Awards 2001.

Simple Things peaked at no.28 in the UK album chart and spent 89 weeks on the chart. Stateside, the album hit no.4 on the Billboard Dance / Electronic album chart and stayed on that chart for 52 weeks.

Singles taken from the original album included ‘I Have Seen’ featuring Mozez, ‘Destiny’ featuring Sia & Sophie Barker, In the Waiting Line featuring Sophie Barker and Distractions featuring Sia.