Silvertrain - Ever Near

Hear The Track Here

(reviewer squints blearily at his watch - however it may also just be a freckle - said reviewer being a bit the worse for wear) See what the time is?? End of the month already and no damn train yet..... Typical isn't it? No wonder the country is going to the dogs. Wasn't like that in my day. When they said there was going to be a train, there WOULD be a train. Of course, it slightly defeated the object of the exercise when it was discovered it was a train going to places where no sane person would go. Christchurch, for example, may well be such a case. However, I've never been there so I can't say for sure if all it's residents are a bit tonto or not, but I do know one of its residents who decidedly is....

Aaah, here's the train now.

I refer, of course, to Silvertrain, otherwise known as Hampshire's finest. Finest what is yet another of those fascinating debates we'll skip this time. Ever Near is another of those John but not Ritchie tracks that have peppered my existence of the past couple of years, some good and (come on, be truthful) some a bit (waggles his hands), know what I mean? To be sure, the quality of the material is good enough and anyway Silvertrain were always a shoo in so far as song writing went. Even so, it's a bit like the race between the hare and the tortoise, John shooting off tunes like chinese firecrackers and Ritchie appearing once in a blue moon to dib his bit.... However, John's work has taken a decidedly welcome direction since he started to realise he can make his own music and - as rough and ready as it is - it shows just how determined he is to get over the 'studio' logjam.

Ever Near though is, to my ears anyway, a bit of a practice track in that respect, and introduces a more keyboard based style than anything we've heard from this source before. The intro certainly promises much, even as I was noticing the overall sound level was a bit too trebley for my tastes, and as the song develops it will be obvious that this is definitely John's track. From the lazy, drum punctuated backing track, to the sweet (almost boy band) vocal, Ever Near shows that - despite its flaws - Silvertrain CAN produce something worthwhile outside of a very expensive environment. To be sure, it would help if you had a musical empathy with what I have described to really get enjoyment out of this track, but I think John can sit back with a certain amount of pride at this track. To my ears, a BIG step on the way to where he is going.

Soft, fluffy Silvertrain.