Skybound

Albenrezension

Skybound, the second album by London’s Tom Baxter, reveals the singer/songwriter to be as mellow as a latter-day James Taylor. However, he clearly wishes to be taken seriously as an artist along the lines of Jeff Buckley, and so there is a certain earnestness to much of Skybound that keeps Baxter from writing sure-fire chart-toppers like John Mayer's "Daughters" or any of Sting’s solo hits. Indeed, sometimes it seems that he has learned the lessons of his influences a little too well: The first single, "Better," is so tasteful, from the just-so cracks in Baxter's voice to the deliberate build of the arrangement, that it verges on predictable. For every moment like that, however, Skybound offers another filled with genuine artistry. The opening "Night Like This," for example, dabbles in some atmospheric keyboard fills that wouldn't sound out of place on an Air album, and "Tell Her Today" flirts with Brazilian rhythms and a slurred whisper of a vocal akin to Nick Drake.