Chris Tye - Somewhere Down the Line (Universal)
3/5
By: Kevin Molloy
Chris Tye, it's unfortunately likely, will probably fall victim to hailing from the wrong city, and bringing forward his alt.country-folk wares forwards at the wrong time. It's beautiful stuff though: a sparse but knowingly strummed acoustic accompanies Tye's plaintive yet firm vocals. The falsetto harmonies blend subtly into the mix, and an occasional instrumental section floats the album's boat out like a wistful exhalation of heavy intoxicating smoke. And did we mention the glorious packaging? It's hard to see where this falls down, but somewhere down the line it does.
Perhaps it's the middling pace of every track: here are not even the occasional throaty yells of Damien Rice (to whom more than a few nods are due throughout). 'Slow Sad Swing Song', perversely, builds the energy up to its climax with crescendo strings and thumping pianos, but the corresponding vocal shift never transpires: we exit the album (save for a hidden live-recorded 'secret track') decidedly underwhelmed.
It's also the amount of nodding there is to be done: the aforementioned Damien Rice has done all this before on 'O', and then again on '9', whilst most of the album would rest entirely un-remarked upon in an obscure collection of Ryan Adams' quieter piano moments. Even the top of his own MySpace proudly states "the new Ed Harcourt headlines start here". It's a sad but true predicament for the singer-songwriter that a lot has been done before. But despite this album's evident appeal, lovingly understated production and whimsical strengths, the effect of the whole is somewhat lacking in staying power.
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