An upbeat-chill soul-pop amalgam of Jamie Liddell, Beatles and Amos Lee that forks off into technical brilliance, Figurine-ish medium-tech and faraway Bon Iver choruses (“A Way to Stay Away,” the best on board here). Sounds like a lot to process, but it’s altogether a friendly, very pretty set of stuff; A
Phillips’ voice carries his lyrics with a gentle cradle. However, don’t misconstrue this to mean quiet. Phillip’s voice never disappears, even when his arrangements threaten to overtake everything. His skills as a composer are on full display. Each song establishes itself as something different from the pack.
“Take You Time” - a good, modern pop tune that blends all its influences skilfully together/ “Now You Know” brings in the element of Sixties soul and raises the quality level one notch up. “A Way to Stay Away” tells us what Phillips inherited from “Friends” era Beach Boys and how to use drum machines in a tasteful manner. “Lies” usher in CSNY harmonies and pedal steel, and “No Idea” remains in the Seventies ‘inheritance’ with 10cc touches.
While the song’s structure seems fairly simple, strings and other bits beneath illustrate there’s much more beneath the surface for Phillips