Sweet and Sour
Intelligent, busy songs, busy in the arrangements and
musical sounds that enter unexpectedly, as on opener Heart of Wonder, piano strikes, jagged guitar and orchestral
inserts, sax too, suddenly, and Combs with a fine vocal. Good pop
sensibilities; lyrically astute.
Second Sleepwalker
strips it back at the start, double bass, light percussion and vocal, some
gentle harmonising, then the strings – these are finely crafted. Dirty Rain pursues its environmental
concern with a sickly sweet vocal that rises to falsetto again and again and
this is perhaps too much in the busyness, the strings here confirming the
over-layering of syrup.
Hazel seems quite
old-school in its folk sound, back to a good way, the vocal peaks here somehow
more in keeping with the plaintive lyrics about loneliness and love. You know,
those themes. Rose Colored Blues
intones Glenn Campbell in that safe sound of long ago. Better Ways has
some fuzz backdrop and a funky bass, but this too echoes of a past sound, and I
quite like that comfort zone, Fleetwood Mac crossed with David Gates just to
make the touchstones sound a little different.
Lauralee does, however, suggest the dangers. A mixed bag, most of the sweets tasty, but some sour the experience.
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