Coming armed with an amusing press release spinning yarns of time spent writing songs on a desert island as a kind of inverted version of Tom Hanks's character in 'Cast Away' and a sleeve with a message in a bottle, the curiously-monikered WINTER ROBERTS has floated ashore with some sunny-side up pop'n'roll to warm the cockles as the summer finally heads shivering out the back door.
Main track "Sha La La La In Your Life" is scarily addictive, Caribbean-flavoured pizzazz. Repeated listening may possibly induce corrosive nausea, but at least initially its' irrisistible lilt and tongue-in-cheek lyrical content ("I thought I'd have the diamond rings by now/ and a place to park my sexual desire") are enough to suggest the arrival of the anti-Blunt. And for that we should be truly thankful.
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The bonus tracks included in my promo copy confirm the fact Roberts is skilful enough with an infectious tune. Both "Head In The Clouds" and "Special Certain Something" are melliflous acoustic guitars'n'strings things which suggest he's heard a few Jackson Browne albums along the way, but that's OK. Last tune, "Every Time We Kiss", meanwhile, recalls the tropicality of "Sha La La..", breaks out the congas and sounds like a (very distant) ancestor of evergreen ska tune "Sea Cruise". And might just be the best thing here to boot.
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