Distributed by
High Desert Music

February 2006 (reissue)

Rating: 10/10

Acoustic Fridays have been held once a month at Farnham Maltings in Surrey since 2004.

Growing in popularity due to a ‘strict ‘agenda of eclectic acoustic, solo or otherwise, they’ve garnered a massive and respectful audience. Avoiding the ‘open mic’ scenario, and catering for a listening weekend crowd, bands are now clambering to get into the venue. Artists are expected not to overload the decibels, going for a more sophisticated ambiance in the MTV mould – and it’s all caught here on High Desert Music’s first setlist of signed and unsigned artists.

This sumptuous compilation has a plethora of talent committed to disc, with seven tracks recorded especially for the album. When the venue has a reputation to be envied, they can afford to be selective, and they are. This is some of the crème de la crème who’ve appeared there.

Rob Reynolds, Sequoia, Big Wednesday, Anna Neale, Rachel Mari Kimber have secured deals, and it’s easy to hear why, whilst others are supposed to be on the rise with considerable followings.

Big Wednesday’s Easier To Cry has that undeniable Damien Rice feel, full of achingly beautiful melody like something straight out of ‘O’ –serious contenders to be massive. Rob Reynolds is arguably the 21 century Ralph McTell, complete with husky vocals on a gorgeous tune.

Jenny-Lynn Smith proves to be an equally strong songsmith with her beautifully lilting voice ripping through the soaring piano which effectively drives this strong ballad. Matching her is angel-voiced Laura Colegate with the self-penned Give Up Giving Up, which with some beefing up with strings, would make a cracking single. She Turns The Key – Sequoia, goes for more of an ‘Americana’ angle, featuring deft blues-harp (harmonica) as it rambles in the Dan Fogelberg vein. Fragile Firelight by Alastair Brown floats on the verge of cracking at any time – sublime. Chugging along is the Stateside feel once more on Mike Henson’s Alcatraz, as the detainee struggles with incarceration.

Laments don’t come more heartfelt than on Kimber’s melancholic desperate pleas for saviour, as she opens up her heart to bleeding point. Anna Neale shows great promise too, with her Radio 2 friendly All For Nothing who’s on the heels of Claire Sproule in the excellent songwriting stakes, as is Rachel Deadman’s stunning solo effort Gravity. Case Hardin is as close as you get to a David Gray ‘sound’ with his lilting gem Tilt-A-Whirl, again with all the potential of a solid single. Rounding off an excellent album, Wire Jesus’ Close To Tears, with some gorgeous female backups, meanders from its gentle beginnings to a thrusting finale: a fitting conclusion.

Only disappointments on an otherwise meritorious debut are Heart Attack (Without Grace), Operator (Logo) and Lectures and Lies (Subdelta) where the vocals are less cultured. Anyone of this line-up is capable of making it big-time: that will depend on lucky breaks and good ‘pluggers’.

The well known ‘Acoustic’ double CD series has serious competition.

It's available from the first of these two sites: