He churns out brilliant pop hooks at an astounding rate, plays guitar and bass like a demon, knows the intricacies of a ridiculous range of synths, has a tasteful easy-going drumming style, a beautiful way with soulful lyrics, a distinctive vocal style, and has turned his production ear to a very long list of New Zealand's alt-pop scene luminaries.
His debut solo album, Eugene Told Me You Were Dead, contained outstanding tracks like Yesterday's Over and Everything's Gonna Be Alright, but Jol Mulholland darted off to work with Liam Finn in New York the moment it was finished, and the album never quite got the accolades it deserved. Let's hope that changes with his second album, because Mulholland deserves to be a star.
Stop And Start Again is full of all those aforementioned good things. There's Dire Straits-worthy guitar, particularly on slowly-twirling-deep-grooving Perfect Health, lush ballad She Knows and Loneliness For Free. There's all sorts of catchy rhythmic patterns, I Took A Train is like a sunset of contemplation, and Cry If You Want To is a truly unusual hit. Mulholland knows all the rules so well he can break them and bend them all over the place but he never gets too clever -- it still comes back to the rhythm and melody. Just buy it, already.
Verdict:
