There’s something about sequels. Often they’re a disappointment, but sometimes you get lucky. Terminator 2 was brilliant. Sadly, Gui Boratto’s sophmore album Take My Breath Away is not Terminator 2.

The album starts off promisingly, the title track warbling and warming up. But quickly you get the feeling we’re not really going anywhere. Boratto has stripped back a lot of the lush layering of Chromophobia and instead offers a ragtag assortment of video game basslines, pop instrumentals, and jarring industrial breakdowns. Much of the album sounds basic and poorly thought out. Even the tracks are poorly arranged, with the album being a real rollercoaster ride from peak to trough and back again.

Sure, there’s the odd belter of a tech house beat, which definitely makes your ears prick up. But on the whole, there’s not a lot to dance to here. Boratto’s past life as an advertising jingle composer was apparent on the sickly sweet Beautiful Life but here it’s even more emphasised, with guitar twanging, piano keys, and dulcet ambience that wouldn’t be out of place selling shampoo, flat screen TVs, or “eau de toilette”.

Unlike the uplifting cacophony of Beautiful Life, the sounds here are disassembled, and left lying next to each other. Boratto’s wife does vocals for a similar track, No Turning Back, and there’s another one of those big hook guitar riffs, but they’re separated and left to face off with each other like kooky kids looking for partners at a school dance. The ingredients are there – the touches of Depeche Mode, The Cure, all the way up to Stardust – but the recipe doesn’t sit right, whether the intention was for cohesiveness or not.

At the tail end of the album, Ballroom and Eggplant would make fans of Mike Shannon or Deadmau5 reasonably happy, but the ambient piano closer Godet is an abrupt left turn into black and white short film soundtrack territory, and we’re left wondering why. Unfortunately, for all the superlative moments, the lasting impression is that Breath just can’t make up it’s mind what it’s meant to be.

I’m not saying it’s as bad as The Matrix Reloaded. Boratto still has flashes of what made him so good the first time round. But while it’s not Judgement Day for Gui just yet, it definitely does take some of the momentum away.