Reviewed by Trevor Kirk

Sidelight are a six-piece band from Lincolnshire who are heavily involved in a monthly youth outreach event known as Sidekick, have plenty of work lined up at various venues during the summer, and have produced a 10-track CD made up of entirely original material. That's the good news; the not so good news is that, on the evidence of the CD, there are quite a few deficiencies that need sorting out. Firstly, whilst the lyrics are on the whole nicely poetic, the music needs working on, to cut out some unnecessary instrumental breaks that do nothing for the songs. Also, the production needs to be looked at, because here and there the mix is badly unbalanced. But more serious in my view is the vocal quality. The girls' voices can't seem to generate any power, they're sometimes off the note and it's not a deal better when some of the boys step up to the microphone. And lastly, they need to find their own style; when the girls are singing, they sound like a poor quality Phatfish, when the guys are operating, they're a substandard Delirious?. Fine if you're live at a gig where the punters might not have heard of Louise Fellingham or Martin Smith, but if you want radio airplay, originality is essential. All I can say is keep working hard on songwriting, performance and style, learn from your experiences at your gigs, and only then think about some more recordings.

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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