Singles

Ceri James - What Else Matters

Lee Puddefoot 15/04/2009

Rating: 3/5

The jangling guitar and keyboard waltz's in as Ceri's vocals nonchalantly creep over “life, you give me something one day, the next you take it away…now I'm staring in to the distance at the black and overcast sky, am I just another hypocrite, telling beautiful lies” before an impassioned cry confesses “I'm afraid of what might never come to be” as whirling organ sounds swoon around his stirring lyrics. The song see-saw's throughout, glorious harmonies venture in creating a sweeping Beach Boys pop effect as his dancing guitar melodies perfectly swoon over the delicate rhythms. You wonder if the first half of the song over uses the organs arrangements and if it would be benefited by the use of strings. How the introduction of a violin would give it an vast grandiose texture. Ceri James' knack has always been as a heart felt singer songwriter with his influences firmly set in the glorious era of 60s pop and this continues where the debut album 'Start & Begin' left off.

Confined to the B-Side is his best song so far in the emotive 'Deptford Broadway', an uplifting and idealised view of South London. Sublime acoustic guitar hooks and sweeping vocals make it a song made for the summer. Ceri James has the potential to be South London's next great export.