Infinity Within is the second studio album by American house and club/dance group Deee-Lite. Released in 1992 on Elektra, the second album, through its lyrical content, instrumentation, and overall tone, showcases the band's political activism as a more literal part of the music than on their debut album, World Clique (1990).
"Runaway", the lead single from the album, is Deee-Lite's fourth single to top the Billboard dance chart, helping to establish their success in the musical genre beyond World Clique.
Album description
With its predecessor subtly focusing on global peace, joy, and unity, Infinity Within is overtly political, as evidenced by the phrase "Let's face it, it's a pro-choice album" appearing on the album cover and more importantly, with outspoken tracks encouraging the protection of the environment ("I Had a Dream I Was Falling through a Hole in the Ozone Layer"), sexual liberation through safe sex ("Rubber Lover"), the failure of the judicial system ("Fuddy Duddy Judge") and the importance of voting ("Vote, Baby, Vote"). The song "Vote, Baby, Vote" was made into a public service announcement which advocated the band's mission for voter registration and their support of the Motor Voter Bill to ease voter registration.
While some music critics may not have recognized it, the move to more heightened social awareness on the second album was not a departure from World Clique, but a natural progression for the band members. Inspired by the I Ching, Infinity Within is meant to be more self-reflective and to counteract the global view of World Clique, which lead singer Lady Kier felt was often misunderstood. She explained the idea behind the album and its title by saying:
The album generally received mixed reviews. Despite a lukewarm response, Robert Christgau gave the album a very positive 3-star honorable mention.
Joe Brown from The Washington Post wrote, "Out to prove they're not just cartoon characters or paper dolls, the retro-Hollywood styled Lady Miss Kier Kirby, Super DJ Dmitry Brill and Jungle DJ Towa "Towa" Tei try for some substance with their style this time out, interlacing the strained zaniness with messages ("Let's face it! It's a pro-choice album!" says the cover). Their concerns are similar to those of the B-52's: safer sex, environmental destruction, voter registration and extraterrestrial contacts. As for the music, recycling is the order of the day - while there's nothing as instantly infectious as "Groove is in the Heart", the band's blend of house Lite, R&B and eclectic sampling is more consistent, and the deceptively slight melodic hooks of "Runaway" and "Heart Be Still" prove infuriatingly tenacious. Kier has developed into a more confident, relaxed singer, and the DJs (plus cameos by bassist Bootsy Collins, hot rap outfit Arrested Development and several ex-JBs) provide perfect music for runway walking or Stairmaster stepping."
Deee-Lite
- Lady Kier Kirby – vocals
- Super DJ Dmitry Brill – guitar, keyboards, bass, drum programming, loop scooping, piano
- Towa Tei – keyboards, bass, drum programming, loop scooping
Additional personnel
- Bernie Worrell – clavinet (on track 3), clavinet and piano (8), synthesizer (9), melodica (14)
- Satoshi Tomiie – keyboards (11, 13)
- Bootsy Collins – guitar (3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14), bass (3, 10, 12, 14), backing vocals (12, 14)
- Catfish Collins – guitar (14)
- Robin Lobe – percussion (3, 13)
- Misha Masud – tabla (14)
- Maceo Parker – saxophone (3, 4, 6, 8, 9), flute (13)
- Fred Wesley – trombone (3, 4, 6, 8, 9)
- Gary Mudbone Cooper, Danny Madden, Sahirah Moore, Sheila Slappy, Zhana Saunders – backing vocals
- Arrested Development – rap (1), African chant (13)
- Jamal-Ski (6), Michael Franti (9) – rap
Production
- Deee-Lite – arranger, mixing, producer
- Fernando Aponte – assistant engineer
- Shannon Carr – assistant engineer
- Dennis Mitchell – digital editing
- Dante de Sole – assistant engineer
- Rob Kempner – assistant engineer
- Lady Miss Kier – design
- Michael F. Mills – art direction, package design
- John Parthum – assistant engineer
- Nick Phillips – artwork
- Mark Plati – engineer
- Herb Powers – mastering
- Mike Rogers – mixing
- Dana Vlcek – assistant engineer
Charts
{|class="wikitable"
!Chart (1992)
!Peak<br>position
|-
|Australian Albums (ARIA)
|align="center"|117
|-
|UK Albums Chart
|align="center"|37
|-
|US Billboard 200
|align="center"|67
|-
|}