The Cousins Project (Steve Mayone & Kristina Stykos)
Album: A Long Way To Fall
Label: Thunder Ridge
Tracks: 13
Website: http://www.thecousinsproject.com

Steve and Kristina are second cousins – hence the title of this, their joint project. But the back-story is that they only met by chance around seven years back at a gig that Steve was playing in Vermont (where Kristina lives). They discovered not only common ancestry but also kinship through their own music-making as individuals (and experienced songwriters both). Thus was born a fruitful musical partnership. And the result is this companionable enough album, which aims to provide a showcase for their talents.

The problem is that despite the pair’s undoubted degree of accomplishment, both instrumentally and vocally, their songs just don’t touch base with me, being nothing more than superficially pleasant and undemanding examples of middle-of-the-road rootsy country-folk with a dash of pop. Kristina’s songs tend to have an appealing touch of poetic insight, whereas Steve’s are more mundane and straightahead in concept and execution – even so, there’s little to mark them apart as anything special.

Each of them takes the vocal lead on his/her own songs, and while there’s nothing to complain about there’s equally nothing to distinguish their voices from any number of similarly competent performers on the circuit. In view of this, it probably comes as no surprise to learn that each of them has already released albums in their own right (Kristina’s in particular have been highly praised over in her native state); so I only wish I could feel more enthusiastic about their music – and this joint project – than I do.

David Kidman