The Miracle Bell

Irish-born Peter Baxter is yet another songwriter with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Having grown up in Australia, this is his first European release, with tracks culled from his two previous albums using a radio friendly set of musicians who rarely let fly.

Operating in decidely m-o-r folk territory, he comes across throughout as a serious craftsman, and many of his songs arouse the suspicion of being poems written first and then set to music. Nothing wrong with that per se, but the resulting lack of melodic invention and the sense of songwriting by numbers only adds to the world-weariness and lack of real originality that dogs the collection.

But occasionally Baxter does convince. 'My Fanatic Heart' is a sort of Chris de Burgh sings Yeats. 'A Stranger To You Me Now' canters along quite merrily with the upper register of Baxter's voice reminding one of Tim Buckley. In fact the songs that work best are those not overburdened by too many words, like the sombre country ballad 'I'll Never Know' with its excellent vocals from Mary Lou Thorp, the poignant 'The Ballad Of Bill Williams' and 'Whatever May Come', with a partly-spoken vocal backed with some appropriately mournful accordion.

At a time when this particular genre must be about as overcrowded as a lifeboat on the Titanic, Baxter will need to produce something more than the merely workmanlike if he's not to meet a similar fate.