Electro-acoustic troubadour Owen Hughes-Holland has a great deal of pride in his music. This is well founded, as his ability to create considered, delicately layered slices of pop/rock is absolutely without question.
Solutions being his release from 2011, he has garnered some celebrity love since then, so it’s pertinent to revisit his first concoction and see what the fuss is about.
Superbly polished, this 6-tracker is unequivocally a well-realised piece of work. Clearly one man’s vision, these compositions have been created with broad appeal in mind. The pattering drum and bass of The Breakaway sits easily alongside the tense, chart-soft rocker Will You, illustrating Hughes-Holland is a fearless magpie, seeing nothing as off limits in his pursuit of song.
Although this is highly commendable, this record is one song. A beautiful song, passionately delivered, but one song all the same. Of course, this isn’t a bad thing in this day and age, as more and more people choose to specialise in what they create. Clearly a gifted singer with his ears in many pies, there is nevertheless very little that stands out from the windswept maelstrom of pop, and despite repeated listens, these songs will not stick.
Closer ‘My Farewell’ has a touch of progress about it, and despite possessing the same vocal melody as everything else, the orchestration of the track is a big step forward. Better breaks, strange chord voicings, and the sound of someone stepping out of their comfort zone. A slightly tougher edge is also apparent, which changes the music’s outward persona completely.
This is a good record by a talented man, and it is immediately clear why Polar Caps have acquired such plaudits from the musical world. What it lacks in imagination is supplanted by a rock-solid consistency, and one would imagine that in two years Hughes-Holland has spread his wings.
Acceptable.
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