Please note this is an old page and Fly Global Music has now moved. Please follow this link and search for the entry in the new site.

Lights Out plumbs some pretty murky emotional depths. Although the vocal line to ‘Goodbye’ is catchy, the repetetively plucked strings beneath are nerve-wrenching. ‘One Last Look’ is dirgy and ‘Alone’ is downright paranoid.

He often sounds as though he is trying to saw through his double bass (there’s an awful lot of angst going on somewhere), and there is a dark grungy streak which runs throughout the album. ‘Look Away’ would be prime for richer instrumentation, something to keep the level of interest higher. I had almost given up until about forty seconds into ‘These Days Are The Best’ when the dreariness let up a little and Baldwin’s lighter, blusier side kicked in. The best tracks are the last two including the single ‘Only in My Dreams’ which features on a current phone company advert.

Despite that, there’s just not enough interest here for me. The limitations of constraining the recording to vocals and bass just doesn’t cut it for me and the fast bowed metallic sound grated. It seemed such a shame since I am a massive double bass fan and given the Buckleyesque vocal capacity with which Baldwin is blessed.

Lights Out, Nat Baldwin’s debut mini-album is released on Broken Sparrow Records.

Links:
Nat Baldwin’s MySpace page
Broken Sparrow Records
‘Only In My Dreams’ video used on a commercial.