An oasis of calm
When Room Thirteen reviewed 'Come Home' the article rounded off with the words, "fans of charming acoustic folk should look out for his debut album": so if that's you here's the moment you might have been waiting for.
'Come Home', the first single from this album, may be familiar to a wider audience after it's appearance on a TV advert for Mastercard, and it's a song which has more of an impact when standing alone as a single. Sadly it finds itself half way through what is at times a pretty average album, although there are enough stand out moments to make this one worth putting the effort in as rewards can be found.
'Separated By The Sea' gets off to an excellent, mellow and haunting start with 'I Will (Ghost Ship)'. This is without question a track deserving of repeated listens and is perfect late night music.
The tempo and pace is stepped up a notch or two with another strong track, 'But You Love Me'. It retains that slightly haunting edge and is the first time we get treated to harmonies, something which appear regularly throughout this album.
'Down Among The Deadmen' is a continuation of track 2 in it's style, but has more of a pop edge to it and would make for a good single choice. Maybe it's the strong harmonies over an upbeat acoustic base but both 'Down Among The Deadmen' and 'Losing The Will To Survive' are very reminiscent of Crowded House: a timely comparison with the New Zealanders on the come back trail this summer.
These strong harmonies are a real defining feature of this record and appear again on the LP's stand out track, the banjotastic 'Don't You Know I Love You'.
It's the slower songs such as 'Separated By The Sea' and 'Loneliness I Fear' where this album falls down as, although perfectly pleasant to listen to, neither of those songs live long in the memory. The pick of the slower tracks, aside from the album's opener of course, is 'Paperman'. Strings are a vital part of this songs structure and coupled with the now familiar strong harmonies give it a real substance, and although this is still not the most remarkable song you've ever heard, things do click for that winning formula.
This CD from Findlay Brown is far from life changing but it's definitely worth picking up if you're partial to a bit of mellow acoustic relaxation music. It's certainly one worth having on stand by for that inevitable, end of a rubbish day feeling we all get from time to time.