Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

The Leeds-based band have taken a leap forward from their last release 'Progress' and added to their rootsy songs a slightly edgier rocky element which serves them very well. Gavin Mart is a songwriter who fills his songs with honesty and not a little melancholy as he looks out at the world and writes what he sees. With an expressive soulful voice that at times reminds me of Paolo Nutini and John Martyn, this collection of songs may be in a style best described as acoustic-driven indie but there's a huge amount of emotion coming through here. At one end of this album the band create atmospheric arrangements for Mart compositions like "Beneath A Cloud" and "Walls Of Stone" and at the other, there's the catchy "Golden" and the memorable "Message To You". The album ends with an elegiac "A Time Will Come" followed by a hidden cover of a famous Pink Floyd song. Always better at flinging out questions into the ether than dealing with solid certainties, Mart is a thought provoking and enigmatic songwriter and this set sees him and his band still moving in an upward trajectory.

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