My first reaction to hearing the track ‘Gonna Teach Myself To Fly’ was just one word; Eurovision. Don’t get me wrong, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Not if a bit of camp, bombastic Erasure-esque pop tickles your ear lobes. Musically, it’s the sort of tune Croatia, Portugal or Turkey might submit. If that makes any sense to you whatsoever.
Second track ‘Goodbye’ is, however, absolutely beautiful. Despite not being a fan of Neil’s vocals (they can be too hushed and strained at times) or his choice of cover art (a scary picture of a topless Neil) his songs are very well arranged and he knows how to structure a song. ‘Goodbye’ floats along gently at a canter until final track ‘Am I Dreaming?’ returns to the Eurovision theme (this time I’m thinking Austria) but with a mingling of Phil Collins thrown in for bad measure. And this, gentle reader, is round about the time I vomited.
Deux points.