Scene and Heard –  CCXXVI :  Circles – Blue Apollo (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

Most music that is doing something new, nudging the ball forward, exists at a collision point of influences. After all a band made up of four Bon Jovi fans  (shudders at the thought) is hardly going to reinvent the wheel, or even the commercial rock song, but thankfully Blue Apollo play with more varied and interesting references. They exist at a point where pop hooks are chilled out by soulful vibes, where gentle, fashion free indie meets a wonderfully accessibility which screams of commercial potential and broad market appeal.

It would be all too easy to mark them down as indie-light, but then not everything has to smash the system, rally against injustice or change the world, sometimes it is enough to want to make the world a slightly nicer place to be in, Blue Apollo do this through an inherent positivity, optimism and just a general demeanour of being likeable. And who ever had a problem with likability? Circles is clean limbed, is threaded together in a well produced and wonderfully defined fashion and speaks of the realities of everyday life, love and relationships. We can smash the system tomorrow, today we are just going to listen to some great music and watch the world go about its business.