Reviewed by Helen Whitall

This creative and intelligent EP is the first release from Staffordshire's Clutching At Straws, released in 2013. My first impressions from the beautiful cover art (cardboard case featuring seascape paintings in rich brown shades, into which the CD nestles) were good, and were only built up as I listened. The EP features six highly lyrically original, folky songs, and producer James Wheeler has created a mix that has reproduced the band's musical skills very well. The first, "Come What May", is a lively, country-tinged song about contentment and acceptance of life, brought to life by soft, well-pronounced vocals and a mandolin solo. Three of the tracks, "Forged Tales", "Look At You Now" and "The Price You Paid", explore integrity, the latter two intriguingly following the same theme: directed at an unknown leader, possibly a politician, the two songs tell a story of good ideals lost to power and corruption. "Look At You Now" features accompaniment by Dan Walsh on banjo, whilst "The Price You Paid" is a slow, simple song with minimal instrumentation, just a little guitar and cello with vocal harmonies. The lyrics of both are powerful ("I admire your good intentions but I fear you lost them along the way/...they were the price you had to pay"). "Love Lost Sold" also carries a noteworthy message; a moody folk dance, it tells of the struggle of working life making ends meet, and questions what are we living for. Intelligent and challenging folk-tinged songs, deftly delivered.

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