Dreamy West Coast vibes with touches of folk and a pinch of jazz.
Sunflower is the debut album of German/British artist Paul Holland. It features a number of very enjoyable characteristics, from West Coast soft rock to out-and-out folk, via some quite interesting world music. Above all, it has a very relaxed and personal feel to it, making it the perfect sound for relaxing in the sunshine.
It opens with a rocky number, Clouds of Haze, which jogs along very nicely indeed, with a live feel about it. The track explores the on/off nature of some relationships and certainly encourages the listener to explore the rest of the album, which tends to mellow out as it goes along.
It’s followed by a slower, jazzier track, Feels Right, which undoubtedly highlights his ability as an astute, talented songwriter.
All the songs are quite short, around the three-minute mark, and the whole album only lasts around thirty-five minutes. The exception to this is Bloody Skies, which comes in at over seven minutes. The extra time does allow him to wander into some ethereal directions musically and has a definite world-music feel, with soft, hypnotic, rhythmic drumming giving it an African texture. This manifests itself not only musically but lyrically too.
“Time gets lost between the stars
So it found its home
In between the stars, the ocean and the shore
Just one more minute, get back to source
Open up the doors”
The title track drifts into almost a dreamlike consciousness where he uses a falsetto voice to pleasing effect. The song is dedicated to those who the Sunflower is their favourite bloom.
“In my opinion, sunflowers are the saddest of all flowers: they take a long time to grow and bloom right until the end of summer and into autumn”, he observes
The album closes with June which is a Jacques Brunel-inspired song. His mother listened to him regularly when he was growing up, and it certainly has that sad, wistful, reflective style about it. The album does, however, drift away a little and may have benefited from something slightly more up-tempo to finish on; however, this is a very confident first offering and will no doubt introduce him to a deservedly much larger audience.
