The man himself described these nine tracks as being representative of 'a place and time, rich with joy and heartache, a slice of one period of my life,' and more than anything this is what comes through Every track is a short story that fits together to form a jigsaw of a very beautiful picture. It is perhaps the personality dripping from it that is something missing from most albums these days - the raw exposure that doesn't need to be about pure heartache, but can delight as much as it can depress. Lott's voice echoes a little of the Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon - whose vocals always made me feel I should listen, because I'm being told something very interesting - and it's the same tone continuing here. There is no attempt at copycatting, but the slight similarity only greatened the appeal for me. In fact with tracks like Half the Way There, with a frankly lovely simplicity Lott really comes into his own, and from beginning to end you forget everything that is going on around you - the true test of of an artist. You feel like you are almost breathing in time with the song, and as a result, it has made it into my top three from the past year - pure connection. This is the sort of album that you should take time out of your life to listen to, don't play it on your way to work, don't have it on in the background while you are studying - because it will be lost on you. You'll feel you have heard the instrumentals before, and will fail to grasp what makes this album truly unique - which would be a real shame for you. But once you've given this album your full attention, feel free to leave it on in the background, and it will get into your head as if you were looking at a scapbook of memories with Lott himself, and it'll make your day a little bit sunnier. Very pretty indeed. --FAME Magazine Belfast, N. Ireland

Date added: 6 years, 10 months ago

Last updated: 2 years ago