Gentle swirling hooks are useful for catching fish and for creating what Steele's publicists call a "melancholic floating landscape" and a "shower of cascading melodies".
With a back catalogue which includes artists such as Wishbone Ash, Pentangle and Amazing Blondel, this is the first release from a new artist on Talking Elephant Records for 15 years.
On the opening track (On Kentish Ground), the reference to "silent sorrow in empty boats" suggests that Genesis' The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway is on Steele's i-pod and this line would also make a good caption to the album's cover image.
The album features traditional folky acoustic instrumentation (guitar, accordion, banjo and fiddle) along with double bass and a brief saxophone cameo.
The soothing arrangements make for a soft melodic sound well suited to the old-fashioned romantic sentiments of Steele's lyrics.
Much of the credit for the album's warm atmosphere belongs to pianist and co-producer Jez Wing. Wing has previously played with Echo and the Bunnymen and once won BBC Radio 2's Young Folk Musician of the Year award.
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He and Steele were able to call upon the generosity of talented musician friends including John Dowling on banjo (best heard on the track Brevity Lost) and Hannah Peel, whose graceful fiddle playing is one the record's chief selling points.
Steele's emotional mood seems closely related to climatic conditions and the changing seasons whether he be pondering the summer sunshine (Here Comes The Sunshine / This Year's Summer Progress) or taking a late night stroll by moonlight (Walking In The Rain).
Steele,from Runcorn in Cheshire, has previously self released two solo albums and now, by tapping his English pastoral folk-roots, he has made a subdued but eloquent Sunday morning album that will ease you painlessly into the day.
Andy Steele's Website
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