Reviewed by Ewan Jones

Fred is a young singer/songwriter based in Maidstone, Kent. This is his second, self-produced release which is rough around the edges but does show some potential. The tone is mostly bright and breezy acoustic pop rock with a touch of introspection slapped in for good measure. Clark shows promise as a pop writer - he has an ear for a good melody but needs to work harder at avoiding clichés to find an original sound. The album is let down in the way vocals are recorded and mixed. Clark's voice is sometimes full and confident but is more often whiny and undisciplined, proving it's hard to pull off a big rock voice - it has a touch of Matchbox 20's Rob Thomas but he doesn't yet have the lungs to pull it off. Additionally, backing vocals are all over the shop - sometimes they work but at best they are overused "woahs" and "ooohs" - at worst they are odd or out of tune (particularly on otherwise strong track "Oxygen"). I have no doubt that with a bit of vocal work and an independent ear involved in the recording and producing, Clark's next release could be heading somewhere. This is far from bad but it's unlikely to be bothering your iPod.

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