Reviewed by Jon Cooper

Some artists can simply turn up, press "record" and hey presto, find they've created a masterpiece. Sadly, David Strafford is not one of those artists. While it was perhaps his intention to create his own 'Nebraska', this man-and-acoustic EP falls victim to the danger inherent in any release of the genre, namely that the artist tries to sound like anyone except the person they actually are. Strafford is a decent vocalist, but he doesn't allow his melodies room to breathe - he's all over them, stifling what could be an effective simplicity with unnecessary flourishes that make him sound like an X-Factor audition failure. Opener "Angel Note" is a case in point, with its over-used refrain of "darling, darling, darling..." covering unwelcome vocal territory while the arrangement flies by in a crying-out-for-a-full-band blur. It's not until "Are You Lonely?" that the listener hears anything like a 'hook' - but not until they've waded their way through the awkward opening lyric, "Spirals, apparitions and prescriptions for conditions brought you down". "Breath Taker" is every bit the third-rate Brit-grunge outtake, with lyrics that would make a 15 year old cringe, and final track "Mercy" is over before it's begun which is a shame as it's the strongest melody of a fairly unmemorable bunch. David, Straff to his mates, is undoubtedly a talented guy and an excellent guitarist as demonstrated on the intro to "Angel Note" while his years with thebandwithnoname showed him to be a riveting on-stage performer. Unfortunately this stripped down project shows a man floundering to find his own musical identity.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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