With its fourth full-length, the trio of Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Alexis Georgopoulos and Scott Hewicker follow up “III”, a superb instrumental album that was also released on Type. So what kind of voyage, as the title suggests, are The Alps taking us on? Punctuated by three interludes, the tracks on this album are cinematic and psychedelic, drifting but not without direction. Chirping insects on “Black Mountain” give way to a (controlled) guitar freak-out of the nine-minute title track. If Ennio Morricone had joined Lord Krishna of Goloka on their German farm to turn their kosmische explorations a decent foundation in an Italo Western score – if this had happened, then the result might have been similar to “Le Voyage”. Which isn’t bad, but not, in all truth, nothing that strikes me as particularly special. You can tell, for example, that Cantu-Ledesma uses other outlets to experiment with musical darkness and abstraction. I feel that The Alps would be invigorated by, say, some “Shining Skull Breath”. Because to my ears, “Le Voyage” a well-made album that is a pleasure to listen to. Not more. But not less, either. 7/10 -- Jan-Arne Sohns (2 June, 2010)