Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

When it comes to American independent bands, they don't really come much cooler than [Jacobstone]. I caught them at a showcase earlier in the year in the US and was impressed by the band's passion and power. I loved the band's debut album and this eight track mini album builds on the foundation of their first but takes their sound to its ethereal best. Once again they are produced by Matt Spransy who some will remember was a member of pioneering rock band Servant, and I love the way the songs are given a huge amount of room to breathe. Floating wafts of sound are always in the background and then often the band explodes with anthemic passages of huge guitar and catchy lyrical moments that arrest the ear. One good example is "Beauty Vines" which takes a full two minutes before it breaks out but when it does, it's an uplifting moment. Another favourite for me is "Ontello Road" which again starts downbeat with some lyrical guitar and takes its time to build. But then that's one of the things I love about Jacobstone, they are in no hurry and being independent they have no agenda to make music to pander to radio, charts or anything else. They just sound like a band caught up in their own creativity and loving the music they make. There's also an excellent 12 minute ambient track that is secretly added onto the end of this which brings the mini album to a drifting, beautiful conclusion. The wonderfully named singer AJ Fink pens the words and like every poetry class you ever attended at school, you can have fun trying to work out the heart of his seemingly tortured soul. They don't really have any ministry agenda but simply want to make brilliant music and work in the mainstream. So far they've managed to fulfill the first part of that dream - this is excellent. As for part two? They've got the talent, let's see if the doors open up!

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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