Reviewed by Michael Durrant

Track eight on this album is called "Troubadour", a beautiful punchy ballad from the Northumberland-based songsmith which speaks of journeying and life on the road. In many ways it sums up the whole of 'Chasing Light' which truly does take the listener on a journey of musical styles and lyrical pictures and is permeated throughout by Davies-Jones' soothing vocals and superb musicianship. The first two tracks, "The Fields" and "Hidden" are a couple of high quality stops along the route of mainstream acoustic songs that prepare us for a sharp turn westwards towards "Reilly", an updated Irish sea-shanty and "Sweet Portaferry", a lovely Celtic ode to Gareth's childhood home in County Down. We then take an altogether political change of direction with the poignant "Berlin To Bethlehem" and "Headlines", the latter of which is reminiscent of the lyrically intelligent work of Del Amitri. The title track is a meditative acoustic guitar instrumental, where the player's proficiency is demonstrated by the complete lack of 'fret buzz' and excellent use of string harmonics at the end. Warm, full and thought-provoking.

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