Reviewed by Jamie Hailstone

Sometimes an artist's best work can be born out of tragedy. Andy Thornton's third solo album, 'Sunflower Girl', was written following the loss of his wife, Donna, to cancer at the age of 29. The 10-track CD is a remarkably open album, full of honestly written songs of longing, hope and real life. In many ways, it is very similar to John Hiatt's 'Bring The Family', another record inspired by loss and guaranteed to touch the heart strings. Andy's strong voice draws the listener into his world and he manages to tackle the subject of grief without ever descending into mawkishness. In fact, it is a remarkably uplifting record. The opening track, "Shake The Moon Down", starts off with a nice left-field throw of orchestral instruments tuning up, before guitars build up for one of the strongest songs on the record. By the time Andy sings "Have you ever been in love?" you will be hooked. There are even shades of (well for me, anyway.) Nick Lowe with lyrics like, "This won't be another of my 'Hey, I lost my love songs'" on the final track, "Safely Home". The most obvious comparison is with Martyn Joseph, whose thoughtful songs have attracted a huge following. There are also shades of Chris Rea in songs like "He Does Not Deserve You". While it is a largely acoustic affair, there is plenty of variety in the music - it never becomes too monotonous and is definitely a release that the discerning music listener will want to return to, again and again.

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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