Reviewed by Chris Sharp

Not the famed Chris Taylor who once sang with Love Coma and has had some critically acclaimed solo albums these last few years. This Chris Taylor hails from Florida's gulf coast and this debut is very impressive. Apparently after starting his musical career performing to schoolmates, he found his way across the pond to attend one of Soul Survivor's Soultime courses. Here he met Stu Green of Salient Sound who has masterfully produced this recording. Kicking off with the catchy "Lights On Guitar Strings" the artist sets off immediately to show a full range of emotion and yet at the same time control which permeates the rest of this acoustic pop/rock album. There is much here that reminds me of Paul Simon, in particular the laid back "Girl, Your Love", for me the standout track. This album is full of strong melodies and intelligent lyrics sensitively delivered. The vocals have a clarity and relaxed nature that is so easy to get wrapped up in listening to that it's easy to overlook the understated and yet quality instrumentation that manages to match the mood of each track perfectly. In places, the guitar work in particular brings to mind works of Phil Keaggy, the ability to play just the right thing at exactly the right moment. This is inspiring stuff and I hope that we'll hear much more of Chris in the future. though he might want to consider a new recording name.

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.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.