Reviews

What we need is some gentle, relaxing music to snuggle in front of a warm central heating system to. Cue Sam Holmes' latest collection of songs. That'll do the trick.

While proclamations of eternal love may be a little extreme, based on her latest collection of songs, they remain just that: only a little extreme.

The Heartbreaker

On her recent offering you will find three of the most perfectly formed songs you will ever hear.

They are filled with tenderness, poignancy and a beautiful frailty. "Don't play with my heart/'Cos it'll only crumble" she sings on second track 'Stories to Tell'. And it would be an entirely callous, cold heart that didn't believe her.

The opening track, "Charlie" features all of the above. Poignancy and tenderness are the watchwords as the song tells of unwritten futures and the potential for good in people who have only known bad.

It's all delivered over a soothing guitar harmonising gorgeously with a piano that makes the whole thing sound effortless.

Sam Holmes

Love and Loss

Similarly, "Stories to Tell" speaks of heartache and sadness in devastating simplicity.

An exercise in wishfulness, it charts the dreams of someone desperate to get back together with a past love: "We'll fly all the way, back to the start/back before you broke my heart".

It's delivered over a melody and arrangement you could imagine Ben Folds might consider in one of his more reflective moods.

And All That Jazz

The third track, "Fool for Love" takes a diversion in style as it adopts a jazzy shuffle reminiscent (if in genre only) of Aimee Mann's "Momentum".

It has a relentless onslaught of lyrics, delivered in places at speeds usually reserved for rappers and hip-hop artists.

While the style has changed, the theme remains the same: a love that may not be requited and a naif's optimism for a better world.

"Dreams come true/pray tell me they don't/biding time, I'll find my own way" Sam Holmes' sings shortly before a fantastic, squelchy Hammond organ joins in the fun. You can't beat a good Hammond organ.

All three tracks can be heard courtesy of Sam Holmes' Myspace page. On that page, you'll also find the Sundae Club track "Angels in the Sky" for which she sang the vocal part back on 2004's "Technostalgia" album.

And please don't get me started about how great that particular album is, otherwise I'll be writing this article all week……

BBC Gloucestershire Introducing...

Sam Holmes will be one of the guests on the next 'BBC Gloucestershire Introducing...' show (October 08), alongside Hamstall Ridware of Sundae Club.

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If you're involved in the Gloucestershire music scene and you would like Stephen to review your music, please feel free to get in touch. Either email gloucestershire@bbc.co.uk or send your album and a bit about yourself to:

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This article is an external contribution and expresses a personal opinion, not the views of the BBC.