Under A Sun
Manchester Metro Review - 23/7/01
As was the case with their debut album, Before the Calm, Wigan-based Witness's second long-player is a patchy affair, half-fulfilling the promise shown by them since the inevitable new-band hype of 1999 and half consigning them - once again - to a period of relative obscurity.
Considerably more upbeat than its predecessor, Under A Sun is nevertheless frequently in thrall to REM-flavoured country rock - not just a description to fill one with joy, particularly when the result is a welter of anonymous rock ballads rather than the interesting song structures the likes of Grand Drive craft from relatively similar material. every so often, though a song, such as Closing Up, with its lilting harmonies, delicate piano, guitar interplay and gentle melancholy, or Warning Song, with its off-kilter melodic beauty, suggests that Gerard Starkie and co are songwriters of considerable skill and subtlety. One suspects they would make a killer acoustic album if only their record company had the creative nous to allow it.
3/5
Claire Allfree