Zero 7 is the duo of veteran London producers Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker. They copied Air's concept on Simple Things (Palm Pictures, 2001), a sleep-inducing parade of mellow electronic jazz-funk-soul shuffles. They deserve credit for the cosmic, ecstatic quality of tunes such as I Have Seen, Destiny, Distractions and Waiting Line. But these are melodies that we've heard hundreds of times before.

Lacking the debut's celestial lightness, When It Falls (Elektra, 2004) is sheer torture. Enough to start missing the most inept orchestral easy-listening albums of the 1960s.