This album came out way back in '99 and at that time it became a firm favourite of mine. In fact it did very well in Ireland but since then there has been no follow up c.d. from Paddy Casey. Like many c.d.'s I have, it sort of gets pushed down the pile as new c.d.'s become the flavour of the month. Then I heard it again from start to finish in a bar and it's renewed my love of the c.d. It only struck me once I'd read other reviews on this site how similar it is to David Gray. When this c.d. came out, Ireland was probably the only country where David Gray was popular-so it's no surprise then that this c.d. did well. If I was to review this c.d. in only one sentence I'd have to say that if you liked White Ladder then this c.d. is for you. But I much prefer to ramble on instead.

Musically it's a mish-mash of angst ridden white blues meets some acoustic leanings. The music has an almost spiritual, atmospheric feel to it. Tracks like Winter's Fire seem to capture the dark wet nights that are so common here in Ireland. The unusual tinkling of an off key piano capturing the sound of the rainfall, the gentle strumming of the guitar and some beautiful lyrics seem to capture a mood so perfectly-in fact I've never heard this sort of mood captured so accurately. Like many of the tracks the multi-layered harmonies and distorted vocal backgrounds are very melodic yet quite haunting at the same time.An even better example of this vocal style is track 4 which is very different in that it uses a really industrial sounding background, scratches and unusual beats yet it still maintains that soulful sound.The only other artists I can compare this sort of mood to would be the music of Icelandic group Sigur Ros. Many other tracks like "Can't Take That Away", and the sublime yet louder "Everybody Wants" have a similar vibe. The latter track drifts from minimalist arrangements of the verse to a big sounding full on chorus which you'll be singing along to with ghusto. Casey's voice is soothing when it needs to be-yet he can deliver lines with amazing power especially on the last track "It's Over Now". This track has an almost anthem feel to it. Plenty of the songs harness the full power of the band, none more so then track 2 "Whatever Gets You True", which was a pretty big single over here. "Sweet Suburban Sky" is so like Gray it's almost unreal. If he produces a song as good as this on his next album we'll all be hailing another masterpiece. Gray was totally deserving of his break through-just in the same way that I feel Casey's album deserves more exposure and international recognition.