Downtempo stars Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker – aka Zero 7 – return with an ambitious third album, The Garden. This time around, Zero 7 have constructed a decidedly more upbeat recordning, with only the occasional allusion to their downbeat roots. Indeed, The Garden would (at times) seem to be more geared in the direction of ambient pop than trip hop and/or downbeat; what does remain, however, is Zero 7's trademark laidback, hipster attitude.

The Garden continues – or rather, more fully embraces –  the sound first referenced on Zero 7's last album, When It Falls. Boasting more blatant pop hooks and uptempo material, The Garden is no doubt a push in a more mainstream direction.

The album opens with the airy, sublime "Futures", a  track featuring swedish singer José González and '60s-style vocal harmonies. Next, the duo proceeds to up the tempo ever-so-slightly on "Throw it All Away", which showcases the vocal return of Australian singer, Sia – a regular on Zero 7 releases. Upbeat tracks like "Seeing Things" and "You're My Flame" easily offset poignant downtempo numbers like "Your Place" and "If I Can't Have You" – Sia really shines on the latter. There is even the not-so casual hint of sarcastic, tongue-in cheek  psychedelia on the album's two standouts, "The Pageant of the Bizarre" and "This Fine Social Scene".

When all is said and done, The Garden is an outstanding album which – while not surpassing their debut, Simple Things – comes out eons ahead of their second album, When It Falls in terms of artistry.

Singer Kevin Aviance is expected to be released Monday following a violent robbery, which was apparently motivated by hate. Aviance, 38 – whose Billboard chart-topping dance hits include "Din Da Da", "Alive" and "Give It Up" – was attacked on June 11 by men yelling anti-gay slurs as he exited the Phoenix, a gay bar in East Village, Manhattan.  Four suspects  – ranging in age from 16 to 20 – have been arrested on charges of hate-crimes (and rightly so), though reports say  as many as seven men were involved in the attack. Aviance suffered a broken jaw (which is now wired shut) and will not be able to sing at the New York city gay pride parade scheduled at the end of the month.

*Thanks to Chris Anderson for the report.