Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

Before becoming the lead singer of Aberdeen-based student trio Boy With Compass, Londoner Donald Thomas released a three song EP under the production auspices of The City Harmonic's Elias Dummer. In truth, Thomas's work here is markedly different from the more organic sound of his new band and betrays a keen pop sensibility and vocal style reminiscent of celebrated mainstream acts such as Owl City and Damien Rice. The EP's opener "Let's Play A Game" is a contagious slice of pop that showcases Thomas' songwriting prowess in conjunction with Dummer's expert production and it doesn't need much suspension of disbelief to picture this particular song as a massive secular hit if it were to receive some decent promotion. Elsewhere, Dummer and Thomas pull off some authentic reggae in "Mind The Gap" - a song of advice to a troubled girl which also evidences Thomas' ability to stride between musical styles to good effect. The somewhat insubstantial "The Local Store" doesn't quite match the quality of its counterparts but this fails to take away from the fact that, thanks to the standard of work on show here, Thomas could certainly find success as a solo artist should he decide to go it alone.

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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