Quick plays: WILL POUND, ANDY FLEET, BEN KUNDER

WILL POUND A Day Will Come [Release date 08.05.20]

The latest album by Will Pound is based on his travels across Europe, where he is joined by many of the musicians he met on his travels. It is subtitled ‘A Musical Journey Across the European Union’, which neatly sums it up.

It is a marvellous musical journey, taking in a jaunty fiddle/harmonica led ‘Ireland’ or ‘Slovakia/Slovenia’, which highlights Will Pound’s phenomenal harmonica playing (he’s not too bad on the melodeon either!). He even manages to have the world famous percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie guest on ‘Romania/Bulgaria’.

One feature of the music is that it does not fit preconceptions some listeners may have when listening to the music from a particular country. It all flows together well, as the constant in each song is the playing of Will Pound.

Again, Will Pound sums it up well on the inside sleeve, ‘this album is for Europeans wherever you come from and whatever you believe in’. An album that will be appearing on many year-end best of lists of that there is no doubt. A perfect musical antidote to these troubled and worrying times. ****

Review by Jason Ritchie

ANDY FLEET The Sleepless Kind [Release date 31.03.20]

This is the third album by Andy Fleet, following on from his 2013 release ‘Takin’ Aim’. As with that album his is joined by trumpeter Andre Canniere, whose playing is an integral part of the album’s sound, along with Andy Fleet’s piano playing.

The album has a distinct MOR/jazz feel, although ‘Love’s Enemy’ does up the tempo, a neatly made pop rocker. ‘Stolen Years’ and ‘Through Closed Eyes’ recall 70’s soft rock and artists like Al Stewart and Colin Blunstone.

An album for a late night listen, especially given Andy Fleet’s easy on the ears vocals. ***

Review by Jason Ritchie

BEN KUNDER Searching For The Stranger (indie)

Toronto singer songwriter Ben Kunder is another whose last album – Better Human (2018) – left little trace evidence in my cerebral filing system (or music library).

It was only a chance glance at the cover art that rang any bells at all, and it appears the album has gone the same way as Kunder’s ‘critically acclaimed’ 2015 debut – Golden – with neither apparently generating a great deal of public interest on either side of the pond.

Like its predecessors Searching For The Stranger is very listenable if you’re in a Radio 2 sort of mood and looking for a singer songwriter who fits neatly into Ryan Adams/Paul Simon/Bruce Hornsby territory, with highlights including the radio friendly first single and opening track ‘Berlin’, and the plaintive, piano led broken-hearted ‘Ghost’.

But we’ve all seen a dozen or more hopefuls with an acoustic opening for ‘major’ acts, never to be heard of again. And honest and authentic as Searching For A Stranger is, it’s hard to see it translating to wider success. ***

Review by Pete Whalley

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)