This opens with You Ask Me, sounding like a Whitest Boy Alive song, with clean acoustic guitar and double bass, before the vocals come in; it’s clear we’re in home-made territory though in a good way — we once returned from Shetland with a boxful of CDs from local musicians sounding like this. It’s endearing — at least for one or two songs.
On tracks such as Bright Lights the vocals are just a bit too much to the fore; it’s not his voice, it’s the production. If it’s what they wanted it was a bit of a mistake but hopefully it’s down to budget. Dove’s voice is not bad at all but it is on delicate side and, like Erlend Øye with Whitest Boy Alive, it wants treating carefully.
On songs like She’ll Take It Over, where the music is more robust, it works well, and instrumentally (Amy Wakefield on violin, Duncan Wilcox on double bass) it’s good, and there are some nice tracks and arrangements.
If you like 60s university folk singers wearing Arran sweaters and sandals, or local music played with feeling, it’s on sale at A&A but we have to say The Croutons (see elsewhere) is better.
