Reviewed by Simon Eden

Three girls, three guitars, and three voices: Courtney Reid, Rachael Taylor and Rollyn Zoulbek. Peas in a pod. With this, their first release from 2004, the girls have created a soft and gentle pop album with country overtones with roots clearly in Nashville and featuring the production skills of multi-instrumentalist Phil Maderia. Lyrics like "out on my back porch" characterise the country feel but lead into a song of peace that could be a mother's lullaby: "I want to rock you in my arms, let you cry/Hold you in my arms, whisper peace." What is surprising is that the girls' voices are so similar, it is hard to distinguish which of them is leading the vocals on each track as they take turns. Although that helps such a collective gel together, the harmonies occasionally blend into one another as unison instead of three part harmonies. Having said that, one must observe that the voices are often wonderful. The drumming is quite distinctive on tracks such as "Mary" and "Every Moment" where Dennis Holt is responsible, the usual kit sounds have been dispensed with and replaced by percussion with vehicle maintenance character. "Too Many Troubles" breaks the mould slightly as it has a blues theme, in contrast the laid back calm of the majority of the album. Great music to chill out to.

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.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.