Kelly Maxwell

CD - Don't Look

Play 90 second soundbite of 'Angel' @ 'CD quality'

'Don't Look' is Kelly Maxwell's first solo venture following several excursions into band work in various forms. Comprising six songs composed over a period of some five years it's an acoustic sojourn that features some pretty fine and often chilling lyrics that are presumably born from personal experience. She's now got around to compiling the works and taking them into the studio and thus, 'Don't Look'.

The first thing that jumps out as I listen is the strength of Kelly's voice - she's got 'balls'. Secondly, her diction and enunciation are very precise such that every single word can be easily heard against her guitar work. The songs are all relatively simple and uncluttered and although their simplicity is part of their charm there's also room and scope for growth such that they'd work equally well with a bolder instrumental line-up.

Kelly has done well here; she's presented a good selection of her emotionally charged songs that sit very well together. As an introduction to the acoustic world of Kelly Maxwell, 'Don't Look' provides a clear and robust insight and should open a few doors for her. Slightly on the down side, because of the way she writes her music, here for solo acoustic guitar, there's a tendency to sound a bit samey. I'd like to hear these songs with added instrumentation because I think they would just get better and added dynamics would open up the whole feel nicely. Not that there's anything at all wrong here, I like what I'm hearing just as it is. I also like the simple but very effective and 'descriptive' artwork on the cover - nicely put together and 'right on the nose'!

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