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Simon Kerr & The Acoustic Junkies: Voyager

This debut album from Dunedin three-piece Simon Kerr & The Acoustic Junkies sees them almost in concept album territory, with all songs loosely themed around voyage. Lyrically and musically it's pretty sincere and earnest stuff, steeped in politics, concern for the world, and life observations. The accompanying lyric sheet (backed with a fold out poster of the band) even comes with a short commentary into each song's meaning. There are some good lyrical ideas here, and Kerr is certainly a story teller, but I don't think he has quite nailed it. Part of that could be down to his voice and phrasing, which at times doesn't suit the narrative. The highlights are the two bookends - pleasant opener Permanence and the dark country pop of last track You Linger. Mostly this is acoustic pop, folk and roots territory. Recorded at Coda Studios in Dunedin by Gordon Jones and mastered by Dale Cotton, it's self-released.

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