Reviewed by Jonathan Day

All four rock/pop songs from that favourite of the Mean Fiddler's Acoustic Room, Dave Morris, two up tempo and two ballads, follow the classic pop tenet; in that they sound like a hundred songs you've heard before without actually copying anything. Not an easy accomplishment! The first song recalls Deacon Blue for me (what yells David, has he got rags in his ears!), the second Cliff Richard circa "Wired For Sound". Richard Causon's production and arrangements are interesting and intelligent without being overly intrusive or gimmicky; he seems to have a genuine feeling for the songs. Personally, I prefer the ballads. They are atmospheric, instrumental^ in the same territory as Mary Black et al. One reason for this preference is certainly lyrical. Here is my major question mark. The ballads are lyrically interesting, but I found the up songs a little more difficult. "Songs In The Night" sits somewhere between a praise and a contemporary lyric, but to my ears it founders between the two rather than exquisitely breaking barriers as so much of, for example, Rich Mullins' work does. "Faith Over Reason" succeeds more than its predecessor with its tale of the healing of the lame man, but still feels a little contrived to me. "Just Say The Word" is a fine lyric and "Letters To The World" a close second. So, apart from some lyrical reservations a genuinely good tape. Better packaging would do the EP more justice.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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