Music review: James Reid - Saint

James Reid

Rock
James Reid
Saint

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.

James Reid

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.