Every once in a while, a truly remarkable collection of songs will find their way onto my trusty Walkman. There are some locally produced singles, EPs and albums that are of such quality that they rightly deserve their place nestling within a more conventional, less localised music collection. You may know which local bands and artists I think fit under this category – the musicians who deserve their place in the Gloucestershire Music Hall of Fame. I have waxed lyrical just a little too often about the music of Earnest Cox, Si Connelly and Sundae Club. And, of course, there is the Midas touch of producer George Moorey. Which leads us neatly towards another name for the list, another entry into the Hall of Fame. That name should have always been there (and did in fact feature in last year’s Festive Fifteen list). But with the arrival of his second album, we have a timely reminder that Chris Davidson is a talent to be reckoned with. Not so Small, But Perfectly Formed Davidson’s second offering is a beautiful epic of an album, opening with echoing waves of sampled songs and finishing with an atmospheric three minute long whisper, part submarine chills, park dark night in a forest, part reverential cathedral. Between those two points, there is a wealth of emotion, feeling and melody. "Losing Friends is Easy" is themed around the idea of breaking with the past – and all the mixed emotions that come with it. The songs vary between uplifting anthems to freedom (the chorus of "By the Time You Realise that I’m Gone" and "New World") and paeans to the past ("Letting Go" and "Dream of You"). Songs of Freedom But no matter what the emotion, Davidson conveys it with tenderness and passion. The result is utterly beautiful. "By the time you realised that I’m gone/I’ll be floating in the morning" is the opening lyric of the album and seems to be as good a summary of the CD as a whole. New! New! New! The theme is still there by track eight with Davidson embracing "a new face, a new hope, a new love on your own/new words and new friends, a new good, a new bad/and no sad, no pain, a new world will remain." This song, "New World" is a truly uplifting song, full of optimism for the future and maybe, just maybe, ever so slightly reminiscent of Gilbert ("Alone Again, Naturally") O’Sullivan. Experimentation There is also a renewed versatility to this album. For all its splendour, Davidson’s first album, "Letting Go" would never have offered a drum ‘n’ bass chorus in the midst of an otherwise conventional singer/songwriter ballad ("Dream of You"). Neither would it have had its own take on Oasis’ "Swamp Song" as we have here in the form of this album’s "Wake Up", or the swaggering blues giant Davidson-goes-electric monster that is "Death of my Social Life". A Cut Above It is in such gobbets of experimentation that Davidson proves his worth. He is not just another bedsit bound singer composing his songs of unrequited love. Instead, he’s prepared to open the window and see what’s going on outside – drums ‘n’ bass ‘n’ all. Chris Davidson may well be losing friends (although it seems a little unlikely given the worth of this collection of songs), but that shouldn’t stop him influencing people. This is a gorgeous album, deceptively simple at one moment, ornately complex the next. Listen to it again and again and again. | 
