Released 21st September, Poseidon Music

Classically trained musician Jo Hamilton has clearly drawn on her experiences of living in rich cultures around the world for her album Gown. Deeply atmospheric and imprinted with a rare dream like quality, this album is hard to classify and a real treat in the sense that it is almost impossible to pigeon hole.

 Each track on this album offers something new and exciting, be it the almost tribal drums echoing distantly in the back ground of 'How Beautiful' or the ethereal vocals tripping delicatley over lazy guitar riffs in the gorgeous 'Deeper (glorious)'. There are many stand out moments on this CD where every song seems to tell a full story in itself, but perhaps Hamiltons finest moments come, firstly, on 'All in Adoration'; a positively trippy, folk style love song with a guest appearance from Simeon Murray on brass and then again in a vastly different guise on 'Mekong Song', which is so delicously simple in its description of the hills of Cambodia before the rain, you can practically taste it.

Jo Hamilton is bound to be compared to Regina Spektor and Sia because her sound is also original and haunting, but make no mistakes - Jo Hamilton is nothing like Regina Spektor. More musically complex and relying more on experimenting with different sounds, styles and guest musicians has allowed this singer songwriter from  Northern Soctland to make some truly original, genuinely heart stirring music.

Posted In Album Reviews, Sep 28 2009. Words - Lara