Upstairs Recordings has been very quiet of late, so it’s good to hear the label’s still alive. One of its main exporters is Don Verbrilli, who is involved in the running of the label and has put out various releases under his own name, plus Swankz & Verbrilli and this second Telefuzz album – following Sleep four years ago.

Previous Verbrilli offerings have tended to engage in an uplifting downtempo sound – usually atmospheric and mostly instrumental in nature – and The Financiers Of Samsara is no exception. Sayshell tipifies Verbrillis approach towards electronic music, kicking off the album with spacial synths and a uniform drumbeat, as gorgeously melodic tones sequence into view.

Tasp (Larry Niven Mix) has a strong Ulrich Schnauss influence unmistakeably present in the deep, resonant bassline that shifts gears in fluid motion. The track is once again simple and enjoyably melodic, Verbrilli is obviously happy to deliver nothing more than sophisticated ambient-pop tunes to daydream to.

Reef Patrol begins with a more sinister undertone, as abstract synths whine and moan over an effortless breakbeat – dreamy synths wander in as the track slow builds with additional keys and vocal samples. The pulsating Hydrofables is another highlight; a thumping club track with rubbery sequences, spacey synths and a compulsive, juddering bassline.

So far so good – in fact better than good, but the track Snakecharmers signifies an unexpected downturn. Maybe the hooks and melodies are simply not as strong on this track as elsewhere, but it’s a drearily produced number – almost comatose in its lack of ideas. The title track follows, introducing coherent female vocals for the first time – this is listenable, featuring enjoyable gliding guitar solos – but the track is unecessarily long at 8½ minutes.

Verbrilli really struggles from here on in. Ringworld is a surprisingly poor effort, with a puny drum beat offered little meat by a sequenced keyboard rhythm that just goes on and on for the song’s entire 6 minute duration. Barely audible vocal samples and jangling guitars make for faint background accompinament – but this is incoherently mixed and terribly repetitive.

Closing tracks Coral Cities and Enchantress are equally limp affairs; a co-producer would have been handy because Verbrilli appears lost in his own world here. This is a great shame, as the album started so well, but is really let down by some unexpectedly lazy studio work towards its latter half. Unfortunately, therefore, The Financiers Of Samsara is little more than a partially enjoyable album that could have been a lot better with a bit more graft and a few dissenting ears.