FOCAL POINT

During a well attended Dutch prog night session I was pleasantly surprised when somebody decided that multi- instrumentalist Paul Cusick his first solo album Focal Point (2009) deserved wider attention from progheads. She (yes indeed, a female proghead) got 'green light' to play it for us, and soon after we were glad about her musical proposal.

The album starts with the overwhelming instrumental title track featuring a moving and sumptuous sound, with propulsive guitar riffs and lush Mellotron violins. Then the song Everblue that also sounds compelling with melancholical vocals and intense guitar work with howling runs. The third song Fade Away contains emotional piano runs, soaring strings and Roger Waters-like vocals, beautifully blended with violin, piano and sensitive electric guitar. The other seven tracks deliver a lot of shifting moods, from dreamy and compelling to catchy beats and heavy and bombastic climates, embellished with violin, piano, slide guitar or Mellotron.

On this album Paul Cusick creates pleasant atmospheres with emotion, and the focus on a song-oriented style. To me it sounds like Art-rock: music that alternates between pop, rock and prog featuring interesting musical ideas, a varied instrumentation and a melodic, harmonic and accessible sound.

My rating: 3,5 star.