Calamateur – Each Dirty Letter

A breezy collection of no thrills pop from prolific singer-songwriter Andrew Howie aka Calamateur. Blending folk and rock is not unfamiliar territory – particularly in the current musical climate – yet to be branded as folk-rock is something of a cutting remark; a fine line in which this album wobbles. When it falls on the right side you get songs like Retreat, a delicate and charming duet with femme-folk-fatale Jo Mango; when it trips up you get songs like Testimony and Honestly, that sound limp and pedestrian.

Far too often do the songs get bogged down in sentimental slush, worst of which is Banoffee, with couplets like “your love it makes me sing, you light up everything”. While there is no doubting the sincerity possessed by these ten tracks, their relaxed delivery and AOR production only serve to leave these ears indifferent and unmoved. [Alan Souter]