The genre tag may say "Rock" but this is far removed from The Feelers' heavier moments.
That band's frontman, James Reid, strikes out on his own with a quieter, more introspective release - very much a Kiwi singer-songwriter album. While the songs do hark back to The Feelers'ballads like Venus, Fishing for Lisa and The Fear - there's also a strong touch of Finn and McGlashan at play.
The simplicity of the back-to-basics instrumentation - including piano, folksy violin and acoustic guitar - helps showcase Reid's trademark raspy vocals.
The album opens well with the relatively upbeat, yet moody, More Than I Was, and the remarkably similar No Horizon, but from there the pace stagnates a bit too much, before hitting the quirky, even bizarre, Little Known Facts and jingle-jangle album closer Half Way Through.
The Feelers are said to have sold more albums in this country than any other New Zealand band, and a lot of that is off the strength of Reid's ballads. But this solo album is missing a certain something, and maybe bringing the noise up a notch or two could have been the answer. Nevertheless, listen out for this in a Sunday morning cafe near you sometime soon.
