Thursday's Child
Album: Voyager
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 14
Website: http://www.reverbnation.com/thursdayschilduk

First of all an apology, I should have had a review up for "Voyager" a couple of months back, but somehow it managed to fall between the gaps and ended up filed away before it had been reviewed. Fortunately Ken Punshon, who forms half of Thursday's Child, with Chris Pyam, is made of sterner stuff and I was reminded of my neglect.

I enjoyed the band's previous album, "Far To Go", in fact one of the songs from that album, "When The Coffin's Come Home" a heartfelt tribute to Royal Wotton Bassett was one of our top three songs from last year.

The problem is I don't think "Voyager" has the strength of "Far To Go" . It's almost as though "Voyagers" has been written as the second part to "Far To Go" rather than being conceived as an album in its own right. There's a phrase I've heard and used and used at work, 'The biggest barrier to a great idea is a good one.' I think the problem has been about trying to repeat the formula, rather than experiment.

That's not to say that "Voyager" is a bad album, it's just that it doesn't seem to explore the songs with the same depth. A good example is "Special Delivery", lyrically it's a great song, Thursday's Child really do have a way with words, in delivery it lacks the dark brooding atmosphere that you feel the song needs. The metaphorical link between highwaymen and some of the banditry of today's package delivery is excellently composed, the arrangement doesn't quite make it.

As the album's title implies a lot of this album features contemporary travelling songs and songs about people that spend a lot of time on the road, musicians included in that number. It's one of the songs that combine those two elements that create what for me is the strongest song on the album, "Blackheart".

For those not in the know country/Americana duo, Blackheart, were recently involved in not one, but two serious road accidents that resulted in significant damage to instruments and vehicles, but fortunately not to life and limb. It's probably one of the starkest songs I've heard about the dangers of life on the road since Tom Pacheco's "Rock 'n' Roll Roulette".

"Voyager" is an album that definitely has its moments. The heart and sentiment are definitely in the right place, there are strong songs on the album and even stronger thoughts, I just wish that it had been explored more for its own sake.

Neil King