The Wakefield Express - 20/6/03

Songs of Optimism by David Pickersgill

CD Review - Maria Lynch: Time Between Times

It was one-time occasional contributor to this column, Kate Honeyman, who back in March last year, caught the last three songs of Maria Lynch playing at Henry Boon's and perceptively advised us to "keep an eye on Maria, as she deserves to hit the high spots".

Whether her newly-released album Time Between Times will be the means by which she does so remains to be seen, but among the 15 tracks by the Grange Moor singer-songwriter are enough gems to suggest that if she doesn't, it won't be for the lack of ability to produce a lovely tune.

'Female singer-songwriter' is a phrase that sometimes conjures up images of over-earnestness, but there's none of that here - just a voice as clear as a bright spring sky and a collection of songs full of warmth and optimism.
And I'm certainly not going to try and categorise her style because the variety in evidence is one of the things that makes the album an enjoyable listen.

Accordingly there's Days of Sunshine, a summer foot-tapper; the funky Wishing; rockers like Clever Clogs and My Life; a bluesy, ballsy Get Away; and Move It On, with its laid-back rhythm built around piano and saxaphone. The final track, Feel You Close, is almost a torch song and kept bringing Stand By Me to mind.

Time Between Times is available from www.marialynch.co.uk and is well worth a listen. Kate was right!

Were you at Maria's first gig?.....