Ray Wilson : guitar, vocals, bass, mouth organ, piano, strings

Steve Wilson : guitar, backing vocals

Amanda Lyon : vocals

Guests

Nir Z : drums, percussion

Brian McAlpine : accordeon

Andy Hess : bass

Irvine Duguid : Hammond, Wurlitzer, strings

Taj Wyzgowski : guitar, slide guitar, mandolin

Paul Holmes : keyboards

John Haimes : bass

Adam Holzman : Wurlitzer

James McKintosh : percussion

Jenny Gardner : violin

David Paton : bass

Ornette Clennon : clarinet

http://www.taal.free.fr

www.taal@free.fr

sophisticated singer-songwriter pop
You will like this if you like Paul Carrack, Phil Collins

It’s the reversed world for Ray Wilson. Instead of starting small and building his way up to the top this guy has started from the very top in order to find himself at the very bottom of that same mountain a handful of years later. Not that it does anything to the quality of his music. On the contrary because now the ex-Stiltskin and ex-Genesis frontman is completely free, can take the direction he really wants and chose the kind of songs that fit his slightly hoarse voice best. In Steve Wilson and Amanda Lyon he has found the ideal ‘buddies’ in order to mould the songs to the best of his abilities. ‘Goodbye baby blue’ could most certainly be a firm radio favourite if only it was given a fair chance ! Other than David Paton (Pilot, Alan Parsons Project, Rick Wakeman) Wilson uses an extensive amount of unknown guest musicians on this album. The majority of the songs still have the acoustic feel which turns them towards folky atmospheres. ‘Along the way’ sounds like it could be a Lloyd Cole original or an unreleased song by the Proclaimers. Sometimes it’s the inclusion of the accordion which gives it a more folky character such as during ‘Yesterday’. It most certainly enables Wilson to deliver these songs both in an elaborated fully arranged way or in a small acoustic setting even just accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. ‘Beach’ is a very fragile song supposedly to be a ‘normal’, ‘easy’ song but the build up is so ingenious it soon becomes one of the addictive songs on this album.

Wilson strips down to the bare necessities as if he’s Bob Dylan himself during ‘She fades away’. How magical it is when his acoustic guitar suddenly gets the company of the Wurlitzer organ. Then when the drums set in you get the complete picture but it’s always down to getting the ‘unplugged’ version right. If this still sounds right then you know you can add whatever arrangement and it will still be OK. ‘Another day’ delivers one of the best songs on the album being carefully crafted in order to live the life of something unique. The sparse yet effective percussion complements the song perfectly. It fades out and automatically blends with the final track ‘The last horizon’ which is like the same melody which keeps on repeating itself as if you were to be in a hazy flux. Wilson’s voice can be heard in the distance echoing away whilst the music ebbs away.

So if you’re looking for a nice collection of simple, honest pop songs sung from the heart and with a unique voice then “Change” is yours. It certainly is a “Change” from his Stiltskin and Genesis past but then again time moves on and Wilson is far too young to call it a day … yet !