Reviewed by Sammy Horner

Phil has been the promoter for the Northumbrian venue The Wharf for a number of years. After yonks of playing for bands Phil decided to go it alone and landed a demo deal with Soundtree Music. The result is this four track EP. Mr Holburt handles his duties on guitar and vocals well enough with some additional session work courtesy of Dan Bainbridge. Drums are delivered straight from disk, but are well enough programmed to sound real. Musically Phil is a wee bit difficult to pigeonhole, maybe a little like Martyn Joseph in an acoustic mood but verging into ambient territory on some tracks. Lyrically, Phil shows a keen perception of social problems and some of the spiritual answers, particularly in the stand out cut, "I Walk Away". Critically, some more studio time would help and the opening track "Spindrift" is not as strong as the other three, but given time, budget and the fact that this is a debut tape Phil is a welcome addition to the growing army of perceptive acoustic artists

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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