Silent Street – Rene Erickson (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

From the excellent recent single Never Gone, we know that Rene Erickson can do more with the humble acoustic guitar, in terms of expression and originality, than most people can muster from a full band. So if one track was a joy, a whole album would undoubtedly be a revelation.

Albums of instrumental tracks, all too often, fall into one of two categories. They are either ambient and washy or over-the-top and showy. Silent Street is neither of those. The music found here is full of life and vitality; it is built on joyous expression and bathes itself in exquisite tones and textures…it is superb.

Neither background music nor intrusive, it sits in a soulful, engaging, contemplative middle ground. And, considering that what you are hearing is just the work of one man and a guitar, the album is lush and ornate, reminding me in places, such as on songs such as Mended Fences, of that eccentric and legendary player Davey Graham. And as a point of reference, it doesn’t get much better than that.