• Band / Artist : Chris Ayer – mySpace
• Genre : Acoustic / Folk Rock
• Sample Track Download : Get Lost
• Buy CD : CD Baby
• Buy Digital Download : iTunes
• Rating : 8.5 out of 10

There’s no point beating around the bush. I hate Chris Ayer and I hate this CD. It’s everything I always wished I could achieve and more. This album has that controlled frantic pace, that almost feels like an album exploding from someones soul. “We are the Birds” with it’s wonderful guitar intro, really opens proceedings with a pow, but the lyrics really didn’t do too much for me. “Confidant” on the other hand, had the balance perfectly weighted. With regard to lyrics, I want to just mention what a great idea it is to have the lyrics for songs on the CD sleeve. I’m of the old guard, who used to voraciously buy old vinyl LPs and sit reading the lyrics, as I listened to my new purchases. This is something that fell by the wayside for while, but seems too be making a welcome comeback.

“Get Lost” is one of those tracks that you literally get yourself lost in. It also has a wonderful synth layer almost hidden and is probably one of my favorite tracks on the album. I was trying to think of an artist that this album reminds me of and I keep thinking of Paul Carrack, former keyboardist with Squeeze. The comparison is more musical than vocal, as Chris has a much smoother and lets face it, youthful voice. “Over and Over” sticks out as a bit of an odd track. It’s almost sophomore boy band, but interesting nonetheless.

My other favorite track has to be “Evaporate”. Just a sheer knockout, in both it’s musical simplicity and it’s lyrics. This is one of those tracks that you can’t help but play over and over again. The album wraps things up with “The Story”, which is unusual, as I’m usually a fan of the slower songs rounding things off, but here it just seems to fit very well.

Conclusion : A wonderful album, with some sparks of sheer creative bliss.