NOEL BEASLEY: Nothing Remains The Same

By Simon Sweetman

A Waikato/Bay Of Plenty musician for 25 years, Beasley was previously frontman for the Kaimai Cowboys among others. His easy mix of country, folk-derived gospel and Christian music is hard to dislike but there's no great spark here to capture the listener's imagination, and nothing that makes this selection of eight brief songs stand out. The sentiment of the lyrics and the direct tone of the quoted scriptures in the cover booklet point to its specific market niche. The playing is more than decent but the scope of the music, arrangement-wise, is a long way from contemporary. Country is a genre that is among the most exciting - with regard to recent releases particularly. 'Nothing Remains The Same' does in fact remain almost exactly the same, low-key sub-honky-tonk arrangements drift and float on by, with little to distinguish the variations in the songs. It's nice enough in the background but is not an album I'd return to with any expectation.

Related Information

Albums

Nothing Remains The Same

NOEL BEASLEY

Issues

NZ Musician

February/March 2007