This is Irishman Michael Cameron's third album, following 1995's Healing Love and 1997's Hard On Your Heels, and as such it exudes confidence and maturity. Thankfully, this is balanced by a refreshing restraint and lightness of touch.
Stylistically, the material is reminiscent of nothing so much as Deacon Blue. If you mourned the demise of that band, you should find plenty of comfort here. Many songs feature the echo/response second vocals of Louise Wallace, working in much the same way as DB's Lorraine McIntosh used to. As a bonus, Cameron's voice is much more tuneful and listenable than Ricky Ross's barking ever was! One track, "Rescue Me," has an extremely sparse accompaniment and the vocals are highly exposed - yet there's no fault to be found with them.
Most of the songs are light acoustically-driven affairs, built around acoustic guitar, piano, strings, etc., but there are some well-chosen drum loops and synths/samples to give the album a strong contemporary edge. The melodies and arrangements are generally strong and seductive and the production and engineering (courtesy of Peter Wilson and Frankie McClay, respectively) are smooth and accomplished without being over-polished. Lyrics are well-crafted and introspective, and offer as many questions as answers. Cameron's faith is clear in these songs, but never overstated. As he puts it himself in "Don't Ask Me How," "If my heart's on my sleeve, then my coat's inside out." It's easy to imagine that this material would translate well to a live setting, probably in a small, dark venue. Check the New Dawn Music website for gig details.
The intimate atmosphere is sadly spoiled by "Name of the Father," the hardest sounding track by some considerable margin, which sounds a mite ham-fisted by comparison. Its anti-hypocrisy stance and associated angry sound, though laudable, leave it sounding underdeveloped, maybe ill-conceived against the delicate grace of the other tracks. However, "Rescue Me" follows, then the closing track, "Fragile," which is as its title says, and quite beautiful, too. So he can be forgiven for his earlier blip.
3.5 tocks
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 1999Reviewed by James StewartMichael Cameron's third album is something of a change from previous releases. After the fairly predictable soft-rock of its predecessor, Hard On Your Heels, this release takes a different tack, and under the production guidance of Peter Wilson (Booley House), Cameron has incorporated strings and a few electronics into his sound. Cameron's voice is fairly soft with a strong Irish accent and tends…
