Columbia
Herald rating: * *
Review: Russell Baillie
Only on their second album, Wellington band Breathe suffer from an odd problem: young men who sound old before their time.
Sure, singer Andrew Tilby may have a choir-boy quality to his keening voice, but the rootsy quintet's music sounds like they've figured there's nothing new under the sun and they rather like it that way.
Which might be fine if (a) their tunes were a bit more memorable; (b) their lyrics didn't swerve so often towards either the facile or hippie-hand-me-downs; or (c) the plush production didn't show up a lack of depth to go with all that sonic width.
Yes, they can be pleasant, as on the stirring powerpop opener of She Said, the single Don't Stop the Revolution ; or the closing expansive dreamy soul-shaped In The City which throws swelling strings and Greg Johnson's trumpet into its near nine-minute haze.
But tracks like Get Yourself Together and Let Them Know both deliver dumb-rock choruses with a curiously straight face, while the Crowded House-ish Too Late for Salvation contemplates "why the rain comes/ down at the same time each year." So no, not exactly Four Seasons in One Day as far as weather songs go.
Breathe are thoroughly tasteful, fine musicians and all that. But you can't help but think that's exactly what makes their sophomore effort run out of puff.
<i>Breathe:</i> Don't Stop The Revolution
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