It’s difficult to explain, but Boris Carloff’s debut album is a bit of a head scratcher. Not in a bad way, you understand, but the music moves restlessly between a number of different styles in reflection of his varied musical background. Normally that is a good thing, but here the music struggles to settle, giving the impression that the clearly talented producer and vocalist hasn’t fully settled on a definitive approach yet, remaining something of a work in progress. The progress is found in songs like ‘I Have Got One Soul’, which is an unusual song with a rippling piano that has fleeting moments of beauty and a stronger sense of identity. Its emotion is raw, too – this is after all a man who is dedicating the record to his recently departed father and brother. ‘Shadows’, meanwhile, takes on the profile of a torch song but without a killer melody. There is plenty here to suggest that Boris Carloff has real potential, and his use of instruments is imaginative if a bit too full on. As yet that potential is waiting to be fully realised.
3 out of 5
Reviewed By Ben Hogwood
