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'If I Told You, You Were Beautiful' is an autumnal album for every season, a melancholic journey through Americana, its love-lost greyness underlined by the vocalist's Stuart Staples-ish half mumble. But while there are some very pleasing moments hiding in here, Minor Majority's sophomore release doesn't quite realise the potential suggested by 2001's 'Walking Home From Nicole's,' being an uneven and strangely indistinguishable release. Two cover versions add some much-needed diversity to an often drowsily mid-paced collection of songs, out of which GbV's Motor Away is adorable, and Buddy Holly's Leaving The Game is not. The album's thematic centrepiece and standout performance, however, is Dancin' In The Backyard, a beautifully subdued ballad of dead honest whimsy, featuring mesmerizing vocal assistance from Karen Jo Fields. The remaining album, while a good enough collection of songs, suffers from a too-casual coffeehouse/open-mic approach, and the performances eventually start to grate by the sheer lack of dynamic invention, and the band's unwillingness to move beyond a lazy campfire drawl.

Stein Haukland
CWAS #12 - Summer 2003

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