I’d been a passing fan of this Belgian trio because of their excellent 1996 trip-hoppy single “2Wicky” (which would show up on multiple soundtracks like Stealing Beauty and I Know What You Did Last Summer), and their debut A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular had done relatively well with the clubs and critics. I even listened to it once or twice while working in the back rooms of the record store.

But it was their 1998 sophomore release, Blue Wonder Power Milk, that really caught my attention. It was their first with singer Geike Arnaert, who would stay with them for the next several albums, and it also signaled a change in musical style. The melodies were more complex, the sounds more experimental and adventurous.

The opener “Battersea” is upbeat and bouncy, surging with tension yet purposely never quite peaking or releasing. It breaks down slightly several times, and yet it fits perfectly with lyrics about the need to escape your surroundings. It slides next to “One Way Ride”, a horn-laden mood piece continuing that theme.

It trips suddenly to “Dictionary”, the first track featuring guitarist Alex Callier on vocals. It’s a bit of an odd song lyrically but it’s all about the mood here: darker, grittier, sexier. This was the song that initially caught my attention when I heard the album for the first time, since it sticks out so much yet still fits in perfectly. We’ve escaped our surroundings but now we’re in the big city at night where secrets lie.

The first single, “Club Montepulciano” did really well for them in their native country, and it did get some play here in the States here and there. It’s a side quest into the clubbing world, wining and dining and allowing yourself to have fun. But then…

“Eden”, the third single from the album, is a masterpiece in evoking trip-hop yet still exuding warmth and emotion. A classic “if only…” song of heartbreak, it was later covered by none other than Sarah Brightman later that year. This song completely sold me on the album.

The album then slides into a few mood pieces like the grooving “Lung” and the quiet lullaby “Electro Shock Faders” until we hit what would be one of the best songs Ray Davies ever wrote that The Kinks never released: “This Strange Effect”. It’s the opposite of “Eden”: flirty and fun yet still mysterious.

That’s immediately followed by the track “Renaissance Affair” which was never released as a single but was used for a car commercial in the States sometime later, leading the song to show up again as an extra track on their next album, 2000’s The Magnificent Tree. It’s one of their most popular tracks that gets used in various places. It’s a lovely circular melody that matches its theme of constant movement.

The album winds down with a few deep cuts: the staccato strings of “Tuna” and the sunrise quiet of “Magenta”, and finally capped by the oddball hidden track “Blue Wonder Power Milk”.

This album came out in early May 1998 when I was about halfway through writing the longhand version of The Phoenix Effect, so as you can well imagine, it soon received heavy rotation status down in the basement of my parents’ house when I was transcribing and revising it on my computer at night. It was a perfect soundtrack for me to listen to during my writing sessions: it set the moods I was aiming for, but wasn’t intrusive or distracting to make me lose my place. I would come back to it several times over the years, both when I worked on the trilogy in the early 00s and again in the mid 10s when I prepped them for self-publishing.

It also got a lot of play at work as well, especially on those days when I had a lot to do back there. My work station was pretty much my own personal corner then, well established and surrounded by everything I needed to get those products out onto the floor quickly and easily. And right next to the desk on top of a few big plastic crates was my cassette/cd player that I’d set up almost from Day One. After a while, I’d spend my lunch time back there, sneaking in a little more writing while listening to a new release or a current favorite. Blue Wonder Power Milk got so much play back there that summer and into autumn that I’m pretty sure it ended up in the top five of my favorite albums of the year.

And yes, they are on the “I will buy anything from this band without even hearing it first” list of favorite bands! They’re still around coming out with great albums and wonderful live shows. I highly recommend them.