Six in 6/8, sounds like sleeve notes or an album title from 60s era Dave Brubeck as he pushed cool jazz time signatures. Nothing that simple though, for all the musical genres and musicians gathered together, cerebral piano led jazz doesn’t get a look in, except in as much as it led to layered textured guitar driven Progressive rock that occasionally there is a slight waft of. David Leask mixes rock sheened big guitar driven powerful Country with more reflective Celtic Folk and more. ‘Indescribable’ is top down, hot day on the highway Nashville music, with Leask’s vocal a masterclass in emotional major league Rock. ‘Red Balloon’ sets David’s voice and its timbre against dobro and Celtic whistles. ‘Caught In The Tide’ and ‘You Think No One Loves You’ feature that voice, in Prog mode against squalling guitar or gutsy and soulful like a Mark Cohen or Liam Ó Maonlaí from The Hothouse Flowers, but always interesting. ‘Between Him And Me’ deals with personal spirituality, layered between waves of electric guitar and atmospheric David delivers another killer soulful rock performance. Six in 6/8, may, on one level, be an exercise in writing emotional nuanced songs that deal with big issues, but it also works very well as an EP introduction to an Scottish Canadian singer and songwriter with potent words and a powerful voice.
Marc Higgins 13/11/18 Four Stars ****
This review first appeared in Northern Sky Magazine
Time Past and Time Passing 