Reviewed by Tim Holden

Wiltshire's John E Wright here offers some more stripped down folk, rock, blues compositions delivered with just an electro-acoustic guitar and his voice. This uncompromising approach means that everything is under the spotlight and unfortunately that harsh light can be rather too revealing particularly if you don't have a huge amount of studio time. The guitar is a little too thin and by the seventh song even a different tempo cannot disguise the fact it has become a bit of a drone with little light and shade. The same can be said of the vocals which struggle with some of the more lyrically dense lines, run out of power at points and with no effects or musically full arrangements to blend with tend to be left high and dry with nowhere to hide. This then leaves the lyrics bearing the weight of the songs and while not bad they do seem rather too simplified - rather like someone describing something they saw rather than a master craftsman weaving a storyline. A shame really as this could have been so much more with a bit more song development and the use of a couple of different guitars.

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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