Ceri James
Album: The Lost Souls Parade
Label: Heed
Tracks: 14
Website: http://www.cerijames.com

If you listen carefully to "The Lost Souls Parade" there's something in its DNA that gives it a feel of the smoke, but can't quite decide if it wants the feel of a North of the river sound ala The Kinks, South of the River via the likes of Squeeze or something a bit more central, Tim Arnold or even if its really in London at all, in a concrete form any way, but there's something bubbling away beneath the surface, though Ceri himself spent a fair chunk of his formative years in Wales.

There's also a dark heart beating away beneath that same surface, but it is by no means the dominant force across the album. If it's not too hippy to talk about things like community and a social spirit than that's where "The Lost Souls Parade" comes into its own, what makes it tick.

It's an album of observations, that occasionally drift off into nostalgia and why not if that's the reference point that informs the song on where it needs to go. It leads to a hotch pot of songs about people and places, almost like an embodiment of "The Real Coffee Shop" , the finest piece of songwriting on album where the sense of the written word.

Similarly there is something of the mongrel about the music that goes along with the lyric. Across the album, Ceri James uses a number of sounds from across the acoustic spectrum and burns them into the more pop/rock sensibilities that give the album it's personality.

Ceri James is the muse, singer, and multi-instrumentalist on the album, ably support by a cast of strong musicians. I feel saxophonist Andy Drummett is well worth a mention as he subtly enhances the lyrical refrain across a number of the songs, but he's not an exception to the quality of the playing, just a part within it.

One thing I do love about "The Lost Souls Parade" is that it's not a perfect album, there are definitely flaws, places where a line doesn't quite fit, where the chord progression doesn't quite work, but that doesn't matter, this album feels more like a friend that's more than happy to stand its round than one that is seeking to get all the plaudits for being a star.

Neil King