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Hmmm, Liz Horsman - name rings a bell doesn't it? Well, she had an album out on Parlophone in 1998 that generated some solid positive press, but the label dumped her a couple of years later anyway. This is the first release on her own label, but they can't afford a space bar on their PC yet. Her sound is strummy with soulful machine beats and a bit mid-'90s, a bit Charlatans. It Ain't Where You're From swings and claps along cutely in this vein, with added psychedelic touches. Dylan's Tomorrow is a Long Time is covered very Bobishly and simply and straight, and stands out too. Overall the beats propel well but don't dominate, the songs are quietly impressive, and the voice is breathy and does the job without excess or strain. One longs to be surprised a bit, though, for something to sound a bit odd, for a strange instrumental break to happen, or a weird tempo change. But they tend not to. If this disc were chocolate it's be a solid reliable Kit-Kat, I think, rather than something special from Fortnum's. But it's also not a cardboard-tasting Hershey bar. And if the disc was sex...well, you get the picture. A friend rather than a lover, then, for me anyway.

Jeff Cotton
August 2002

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