CD REVIEW

Derek Walker Paul Poulton Project Some People Believe Anything It must be tough for independent artists now, competing with free downloads on one side and the whole history of music on the other. So Poulton deserves recognition for bravely mashing everyday life, Pilgrim’s Progress and a smidgeon of Dante into a one guitar-led collection of songs.

There are unmistakable Larr y Norman influences in this otherwise unique project, from its creative approach to a cover of Reader’s Digest, through a similar musical style: Bad Things People Do like an early, bluesy Norman song (but with the title bit of Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust as the chorus) and Saw the Devil has a touch of Be Careful What You Sign about it.

Poulton’s voice is like a thin version of John Lennon’s (especially on The Image) and can sound a bit stretched. His Bunyanesque lead character travels through life and meets scammers, traffickers, giants and mythological characters. You can get a good idea of the way this works from the ‘lyrics and commentary’ page at www.paulpoulton.com.

This hour of immensely thoughtful material (dealing with topics including trust, pornography, ancient history and relationships) is delivered in a light, upbeat package.

The set is guitar-led with a dance spirit - the opener has just one looping funky riff - but Poulton also uses an inspired and welljudged hue of vibes in Crying Out Loud, a smidgeon of synth in Porn and sticks a leg and a half into rock and blues along the way. At times it feels a little low-budget, but he has varied the approach to guitar across the disc and it feels more polished when there is less going on.

Poulton’s ambition and care deserve support. I know of nothing faith-based with quite this blend of acute observation, guitar-based funk and elevated sense of purpose.

(Poulton is scheduling a new album Words for release later this spring).