A sense of sadness, lugubriousness permeates this collection of sparsely plucked acoustic numbers. In places reminiscent of I Like Trains minus the crescendos and cathedrals of reverb, Gareth Cavill deals in the melancholic, the hollow-hearted, the desolate.
'Terese' is filled with the doomed romanticism of The Smiths, but infused with a continental flavour that works to powerful and evocative effect, and 'Clumsy Hands' reminds me of several other songs, none of which I can place. It doesn't really matter, though: it's a wonderfully delicate reflection.
'When I think of You' has a sing-song quality that probably owes as much to The Beatles as anyone or anything else, while there's a hint of Syd Barret-era Pink Floyd about 'Why say Anything?' and it's hard to deny that this guy has an ear for melodies that are simple but effective. When he takes things down a notch, as on 'Cold Heaven', he sits somewhere between I Like Trains and Leonard Cohen in his early years, before building to a tremulous tremelo-heavy climax that’s truly breathtaking. Elsewhere, as on 'Piranha Canal,' Cavil delivers songs of minimalist simplicity that are achingly affecting in their sparseness.
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The final track, 'Small Moments' is an interesting spoken-word piece, a short kitchen-sink narrative on the humdrum and the value of the pleasant details of life accompanied only by a piano. It’s light-hearted and uplifting, and provides something of a contrast to the reflective melancholy that pervades much of the album as a whole.
Cavil on MySpace
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