The Garden (2006)

A cast of singers revolving around a pair of song-writers/studio rats, the U.K. based Zero 7 crafts wake-and-bake soul. And what they lack in pop fireworks they more than make up for in sumptuous beats and keyboard textures. Replacing R&B man Mozez with nuevo alt-folkie José González (see his 2005 solo debut, Veneer), The Garden can, at best, recall the '70s SoCal sound of Fleetwood Mac or Crosby, Stills & Nash, but with deeper grooves. An optimistic vision that, as the title suggests, aims to conjure its own Eden.