Review written by Andy Holland

Formerly of “Little Volcanoes” who split up in 2013, Philip Quinn is well-known for his well-crafted songs and judging by his current offerings, that isn’t likely to change anytime soon. Joined by fellow ex-Volcano Sam Packwood on drums, Ollie Smith (previously of Midge Ure’s backing band) on guitar and the constantly-in-demand bass-player Charlie Salt, Quinn has put together an extraordinary new set of songs. This is really melodic stuff and extremely commercial, but it still maintains an edge. Luscious ‘dream pop’ at it most elegant and refined. In ‘Heads We Do It’, the track starts with Sam Packwood’s light, steady and tight soul style beat and a supple bass-line,but Quinn’s rhodes keyboards and Quinn’s strong, slightly hoarse baritone vocals are very much to the foreground.

Ollie Smith’s subtle but effective guitar work also deserves a mention though. There are two guitar tracks on the song one a lightly strummed acoustic and the other a choppy electric driving the beat. Both of these add to the bright summery feel of the track, as do overdubbed backing-vocals, which also make the choruses pop. This is a very British summer song though; hence the slightly melancholic edge. It has a classic Motown feel but is nevertheless very much up-to-date and 2014 in its approach. It’s difficult to compare this song with the work of other current bands to be honest, but it has elements of The Beautiful South about it, but not as lyric-based as Paul Heaton’s songwriting style. In fact it’s not hard to imagine a female vocal track being added into the arrangement of this track. The lyrics here are very strong too; the central theme being a feeling of claustrophobia and the need for self-expression in a world unsympathetic towards it. This is very subtly handled though as is everything else here. This is certainly a project with a lot of promise. Major labels and publishers should take note; a lot of money could be made here.

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