"During my long years on BBC Radio Derby's Soundscapes, hordes of aspirants have thrust tapes in my direction. I hesitate to refer to a few of them as 'musicians', as most of these tapes have left me unmoved, some have moved me to toss them into the nearest waste bin (why is it THESE tapes are invariably from the 'musicians' who ring up and ask what you think?), but the odd exception has made me sit up, smile, strike a fist in the air and renew my faith in the future of this music.

I was nervous about hearing Bekki's tape. I desperately wanted to like it: She was both local and - a rarity in synthesiser circles - female. Oh, blessed relief. I loved what I heard... rich, melodious, soaringly soulful synth with, dare I say, a female touch... just listen to tracks like Azmara and Hymn (For Her). There's a warmth and sensitivity here that could only come from a woman. Hit me with your handbag if you like, but it's true.

This second album is a dramatic and deeply satisfying progression from Elysian Fields. I am distinctly chuffed that some of the tracks have come out of a silent movie soundtrack I commissioned her to compose while Chairman of the Derby Cinema 100 Festival. Although the live performance (to Valentino's 'Son of the Sheik') couldn't take place, the music was completed, and some of it has surfaced here, so listen out for tracks that evoke images of sweeping Arab dunes and moist foreplay in Bedouin tents. Overall, the exotic and powerful nature of Bekki's music is remarkable for an ordinary, modest girl who lives a quiet, rural existence, likes a pint at the local pub, and goes Saturday shopping with her mum.

It's likely that, as the reader of these sleevenotes, you are a creature of taste and discernment who already has a copy of the first album. But my fervent hope is that you are one of the excited thousands who has bought the second album and, as a result, catapulted Bekki to fame, riches and Orb remixes. I might then get paid for writing this, and Bekki can get Vangelis or Jarre to pen the sleevenotes for the NEXT album".