"French Navy"**** is a promising start with its beautiful wall of sound production and simple "I wanted to control it but love I couldn't hold it" chorus. Subsequent tracks are disappointing after the previous album Let's Get Out Of This Country, as Campbell seems to beat herself up on track after track. The regret of "The Sweetest Thing" is chuckling,though the details don't reveal an interesting character. "Away With Murder" has a lovely, spacious sound; but verse
"People have been travelling miles just to hear us sing
It's a February night & I don't wanna feel anything
To get away, maybe I could sell kisses
In Portland I tried my pretty hand at fishing"
tells us nothing except that the author tours and ruminates a lot.
"Careless Love" is another aural treat, but the first line "Honey I've been really struggling" should continue "to write something interesting". "Oh James you broke my heart I thought I knew you well" and "it feels like none of this is real I'll pretend that my heart and head are well" are phrases from an author that has given up trying to write something better. "Honey In The Sun" is a rocking finale, but hook line "I wish my heart was cold as the morning dew but it's warm as saxophones and honey in the sun for you" is unwieldy as any. Retrospective "Other Towns And Cities" seems to pack all the memories of the relationship in to one tremolo-guitar driven dream and reveals the most original thoughts in contrast to the musical simplicity, while the rest of the album is the reverse.
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