Reviewed by Tony Cummings

One of the great things about captaining the good ship Cross Rhythms is that you encounter plenty of brand new vessels who've recently cast off with their album debuts who have the talent to reach new lands. You also come across a fair number destined to quickly sink without trace but I'm happy to report that this is not the case with Orison.) They hail from the Isle Of Sheppey, Kent and revolve around the singing and songs of 21 year old multi-instrumentalist Paul Wroe. Paul's forte is haunting melancholia so that even when singing an "up" song like "Let It All Go", a mood of poignancy envelopes the listener. The first three tracks are excellent alt rock but soon it's stripped down acoustic numbers. Overall, hard to classify - art pop, acoustic rock, you take your choice - but with his songwriting intelligence (no lyrics on the sleeve but you can find them on the band's website), good production belying its bedroom studio origins and that billowing mood of reflective poignancy, I predict Captain Wroe's vessel will journey far.

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.

This track data is supplied by the Cross Rhythms CD/DVD review library. Please note that CD tracks may vary according to release region or product version.