You can’t keep a good man down, as they say in 10 Downing Street, so it should be no surprise to find that Ross Alcock – formerly of eighties haircut band H20 – is back knocking out the tunes like he did back in the days when analogue synth sounds were all the vogue in the charts. The time is today and he has reinvented himself as the cleverly (re)named The Sound of Water and delivered an album called “Dreamsongs”.
Those of you expecting an album rehashing the synthetic sounds of the past might well find themselves disappointed with only a couple of few synth powered ventures into the world of samples and ambient noodling diverting your ears from the mainstream motivations of the rest of the album. Those mainstream songs are pretty polished, however, and drafting in a variety of guest vocalists – such as Ian Donaldson (also formerly of H20) and Christian chanteuse Ruth Campbell – makes the time pass easily enough.
So, if your tastes drift into the mainstream then “Dreamsongs” might well float your boat even if the album’s musical direction appeared somewhat lost in the sea mist. That said, it was no hardship to listen to this album and I don’t get to say that very often these days.
Best song: “Pirate’s Gold”.
Verdict: Tidy.