Shane Newville

Formless
Syntax Records

What Shane Newville means to imply with the title of his new album, “Formless,” is not what you may think after hearing the first track — an ambient, ethereal whisper of a song. You expect after that for each of the 16 remaining songs to drift quietly by on a digital breeze.

Some do, and beautifully — absolutely beautifully. But “Formless” is much more a sampler of various approaches to the mostly instrumental sound of many labels: techno, electronica, house, hip-hop, trip-hop.

Whatever you like to call it, Newville is good at it. He’s slowly making a name for himself, and many of the creations found on “Formless” can be heard in various commercials and documentaries — even in a skate video.

Think Moby, think The Prodigy, think The Chemical Brothers, think Fatboy Slim — but listen to this. Sometimes it’s soft, sometimes loud, sometimes slow and sometimes fast, but it is not for one second unlistenable.

Just the opposite — in fact, press “repeat” on “Let These Sounds Caress Your Ears” and I’ll never leave the room.