Albums

Drew Andrews - Only Mirrors

Richard Wink 22/03/2010

Rating: 2/5

Thinking carefully before I put fingers to keys, I dwell, wondering just how to summarize Only Mirrors. Drew Andrews possesses a soothing voice, the kind of voice that could be useful if you wanted to put into practice post hypnotic suggestion, the kind of voice a corner man would use to a weary boxer as he readies him for the final round. Calm, in control, the worry is that Andrews struggles to convey any tangible emotion.

As a singer songwriter you are fighting like a piranha, scrapping for life. Not only must you compete for bar stools at open mic nights locally, but globally you must be able to convey to an audience that your bleating is worth listening to. Those who break through will soundtrack funerals, first dances at wedding and mend broken hearts after brutal separations. Those who don't will only be able to hear themselves against the tiled bathroom walls, as their words fight with the sound of sloshing water spouting from the turbulent morning shower.

The recent passing of Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous has reminded me of the importance of soul, for even the most fragile of voice can have soul, in the case of Linkous it was a tormented one, but his songs talked, they communicated, they moved me. This isn't me listening in a reflective sense, with the spectre of the singers untimely demise hanging over his music, no this isn't the same as the tinge of gloom that hangs over the recordings of Nick Drake and Elliott Smith, this was communicated to me when he was alive.

Drew Andrews is an up and comer, it's unfair to compare a mere mortal to the Gods. However his music lacks soul, for all his effort and his potent voice, all I can do is close my eyes, and doze away from consciousness, finding comfort in my own dreams.