Harry Harris
Album: Harry Harris
Label: Wild Sound
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.harryharrismusic.com

Welsh singer songwriter, Harry Harris, can best be described as observational, one of these people that can take a look at the simpler things in life and turn them into songs that make them feel like they matter. Similarly he can take something that means different things to different people, such as a ring, the title of the opening track, and weave the threads into a distinct narrative.

The second track, "Salt" joins the spiritual world to the physical one, by taking allegorical Biblical and classical references and bending them into a more physical that picks up on a substance, not just known for ritual purification, but also an element that is essential for life on one hand and one that can also be responsible for the bitterness of tears.

Those two openers also set the scene for the rest of the album by highlighting the way that natural affinity that Harry has with words, not just meaning and context, but the way he uses the rhythm of the words as much as the poetry.

There are times when "Harry Harris" feels more like a spoken word album with accompaniment, more prose than song, that is until you realise the subtle undertone of the guitar, supporting the mood of the songs, giving a sharper focus and more shades of grey between the blacks and whites.

Whilst the majority of the album does focus on vocal and guitar some of the songs, such as "Middleton Street" have a more rounded feel, by making use of additional instrumentation to augment the sound.

The standard of writing across the album is to a high standard, there's not one track on the album that you would describe as filler, but there are two that really raise themselves above the parapet, "Portrait Of A Girl(Sleeping)", which does what the title implies, namely filling a canvas with words, but in such a way that you feel you can keep on peeling meaning out of the layers, and "Annie Brown" the last track on the album, though at six and eight minutes respectively, I can't imagine these getting selected for a lot of airplay, which is a shame as they deserve a wider audience.

Of course you can get them as part of the album, an obvious statement, but definitely not a bad idea.

Neil King