Ice Cutters “s/t”
The Ice Cutters are the alter ego of musician Guy Latham from Abergele, North Wales. Guy writes a series of compelling songs on the self-titled album and although he claims many influences, the gentle vocals and mid-tempo guitar strums recall The Zombies and Gilbert O’Sullivan primarily. The baroque compositions are impressive on the memorable “Carry The Dream Away” and breezy ballad “Coming Home.” Heavier guitars come in on “ZX81” and the rant “This Is A Job” prove this isn’t a lightweight performer. Piano leads the melody on a few songs (“Taking Over”) but these aren’t as strong as the albums impressive start. Another great standout is The Left Banke like charms of “Mary Morphine.” Overall most of these tracks are pretty good, and I look forward to more from Ice Cutters.
Courtney Murphy “Big”
After making one of the final three on Australian Idol in 2004, Courtney continued to hone his show biz chops and prepare this album. Comparable to Dan Fogelberg and Go West in style, the opening single “Salvation Jane” is a radio ready hit. Murphy’s got a great melodic streak in his songwriting and his soulful vocal impresses on “Thinking About You Naked.” With big horns and harpsichord, it’s got an ELO like flair and surprises. The “Second Best” is a modern pop standard blessed with great key shifts, and really awesome lyrics. The remaining album has a more traditional pop approach, with inspirational ballads (“Warning To You”) and soulful contemporary (“Margarita”). So how many former “idols” can sing great AND write a kick ass song by themselves? No matter, Courtney’s already done it and I’m impressed.
