Reviewed by Anthony Longville

The Salford-based Yorkshireman here presents his first full length release following on from an earlier six-track offering 'This Soul Will Rise'. This time it's a 13-strong set, of which all but the closing track are written by Peacock himself. The album gets off to an interesting start with "Afterlife", a musically introspective number which never fully rocks out but draws the listener in with a hushed almost ambient soundscape and anthemic chorus - very effective. As the album proceeds the guitars come more to the fore, with a more Brit-pop sound. "Suburban Fairytales" marks a change of tack with keyboard and organ, the lyrics challenging the material dreams of the 21st century. Peacock certainly feels he has a message to bring, challenging the listener on "Landslide" about their indifference to injustice and suffering in the world. On the whole though there's not really enough of a spark or sufficient vocal variety to sustain an interest throughout the whole disc. There is a candidate for most unpleasant sounding CCM lyric of the year though in "multi-coloured cesspit of culture we swallow" - ugh! Overall a release that puts down a foundation that hopefully the artist can build upon.

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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