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the feelers: Communicate

Go the feelers! No second album jitters here. As Andrew Lloyd Webber's dad once said, "Sounds like a million pounds to me". Number one with a rocket and absolutely bursting with finely polished (courtesy of producer Gil Norton of Pixies/Foo Fighters fame) power-pop gems and classy ballads, 'Communicate' fully vindicates the time and money lavished on it. Always possessed of an unerring flair for killer chorus payoffs, the quality and originality of head feeler James Reid's writing has taken a step forward since Pressure Man first burst onto our radios. And if there's a better radio-friendly raspy pop voice than Reid's in the country, I haven't heard it yet. While there's not a dud amongst the 13 tracks, standouts include the ultra-hooky title track with its clever chord switches, the beautiful guitar production of As Good As it Gets (reminiscent of HDU in their quieter moments) and the refreshingly original Fragile with its uplifting chorus. That's three out the first four. Fishing for Lisa leads a trio of ballads which scale various degrees of intensity, all of them ambitious, inventive and faultlessly produced. First Kiwi single Astronaut is the closest relative to anything on the first album, but a cracker song nonetheless, while Accidental Love introduces that pop rarity, the 6/8 shuffle and really makes it groove. Somewhat out of character is Anniversary, sounding like an amalgam of Hall and Oates, Lemonheads and Greg Johnson, but it's catchy as all heck. There are a couple more introspective moments to go out on in Flood and The Web, and it's all over. Undeniably world class, 'Communicate' delivers on all fronts.

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