19 May Elsewhere – Graham Reed
Dylan Storey – Out Of The Soup (Storey):
A big step up on every level from his previous album Bones, this album finds Auckland singer-songwriter/guitarist Storey and his bandmates on a very confident collection of sharply focused rock-pop songs (with a smattering of blues and country-rock influences, and hard rock on the closer The Tempest, which ends with hypnotic guitar part). A little solo Keith Richards is conjured up in the excellent Lies Make An Honest Man, and the country-rock Sold It All Away with Sam Prebble on violin should be all over radio. The album has been floating around since earlier in the year but gets new life because Storey has gigs coming up.