Adam Piggott And Jayne Freeman
Album: The Firefly And The Half Diamond
Label: Village
Tracks: 12
Website: http://adampiggottandjaynefreeman.com/

By coincidence this was the second album to heavily feature the ukulele to into the office in as many days, the prime difference is that "The Firefly And The Half Diamond" does so without fanfare, you just hear it within the context of the overall song, no fuss.

Adam Piggott And Jayne Freeman have penned an album that is rich in harmonies and resplendent in rich, deep, almost lush, atmospheric backing that helps to provide emphasis to the lyric. There were times as I listened to the album that this is what the Pet Shop Boys, might sound like if they had more of an acoustic Americana and folk bent to their sound rather than electronica, though most of the time there is a simpler feel to the album.

Adam(guitars) and Jayne(ukulele) bounce the vocal duties effortlessly between the two of them occasionally coming together to enhance the natural flow of the album they wind their way through life's highways and byways in song form.

"The Firefly And The Half Diamond" is one of those albums that's got a lot to offer and seems to work on a number of levels. There's an almost spiritual quality to parts of the album. "With You All The Way" has an especially uplifting quality, one of those songs that has you smiling at the end of it though you can't quite put your finger on why.

This is an album full of great songs, it's an album that I can see myself returning to and often. It has this habit of changing to fit my mood and very little in my collection does that. I need to check out Adam Piggott and Jayne Freeman's previous cut, "Anytime Now", because "The Firefly And The Half Diamond" is an album to warrant further investigation of its creators.

Neil King