Quite a mixed bag this from the impressive Paul Goodwin. 'Phosphorus Burn' is full of Goodwin's breathy, often slightly truncated, vocals and great, great songs.
'Phosphorus Burn' demonstrates clearly the stunning lyrical side of this, thus far, under-appreciated artist. Yes, great words but much more than that; Goodwin's whole approach is very much his own. His whole take on the acoustic idiom is one of pained but sensual ramblings set to gorgeous, mostly simplistic music and uncluttered arrangements. Goodwin's vocal style is extremely understated, almost sleepy, which tends to accentuate to sentiment of the songs.
But just to re-iterate, what a mixed bag we have here. From the relatively simple, pained and folk laced 'Phosphorus Burn' through to the jaunty, lightly country/rock 'The Forked Tongue And The Blind Eye Turned', to the dark, haunting 'Folly Or A Fortress' to the rockin', blues tinged and excellent 'Place To Say' Paul Goodwin pulls out all the stops.
'Phosphorus Burn' is an inspired release that totally captures the creative attributes of the enigmatic Paul Goodwin. Superbly crafted and beautifully performed 'Phosphorus Burn' is up there with Rice, Gray and LaMontagnes - every bit as creative, every bit as diverse and every bit as good! So, when is someone gonna take notice, when will Paul Goodwin start to be seen as a real contender? Who knows, this is a tough business and so much depends on being in the right place at the right time, relies on who you know and not what you know. What I know is that Paul Goodwin is extremely talented, has all the right tools at his disposal and surely it's now just a matter of time and luck.
'Phosphorus Burn' is brilliant!!