• Band / Artist : Ainslie Henderson – mySpace
• Genre : Acoustic
• Sample Track Download : N/A
• Buy CD : Artist Shop
• Buy Digital Download : N/A
• Rating : 8.5 out of 10

I’m a sucker for all things acoustic, so when I came across Ainslie via Mark Hunter’s Mellow Monday podcast, my interest was immediately piqued.

It’s amazing the amount of music capturing my attention, that originates from Scotland. Ainslie himself is from Edinburgh. I’ve reviewed quite a few Scottish bands/artists of late, and it seems to be that the majority of them, follow this style of relaxed acoustic music.

The first track on the album is “Dust”, actually reminds me of a track from a previous Indie Launchpad review, an artist called Derek James, but here the track is much more mellow. “Don’t Say” brings Del Amitiri to mind, who again were a Scottish band and a very good one at that. “I Need Reminded” again has a heavy emphasis on the acoustic guitar, as in fact does the majority of this album. It’s either something you love, or hardly notice. For me, it’s just such a beautiful instrument to listen to, especially when it’s played as well as it is here. The album finishes with “While They Wait”, which has a very emotionally raw feel to it, great stuff.

There’s very little to distinguish one track over the other, well certainly for the majority of tracks, but I don’t see that as in any way a negative point. Each of the songs has it’s merits, but all are underpinned by great songwriting, honest singing and great accompaniment. The only downside I can really offer, is that I would have loved to have seen a way to purchase the music in MP3 format.

Conclusion : A great album to relax and unwind to. I’d be interested to see some more diverse song choices and maybe a couple of tracks with more instruments, but on the whole, thoroughly recommended.