INTRO - one minute and thirty seconds this sets the tone for Barnabas’s style - harmonious, layered plucky guitar with cello on top. It’s an orchestral short that wouldn’t be out of place on a film score.
PRAY FOR ME, is a melancholy and spiritual little tune wrapped up in a beautiful guitar and cello combo, backed by even more strings. It seems to speak of looking for more in life, wanting to transcend the ordinary and cut to the meat – but hey that’s just my poetic interpretation.
The vocals are soft, distinctive and to be blunt unusual and I kept thinking he would suddenly unleash what felt like an inert power behind them, a Tom Wait’s growl or Bowie howl – alas no! However I loved the heavy strings towards the end – reminiscent of the Beatles ‘I am the Walrus’.
GOLDEN HAIR SAVED MY LIFE - an additional track with a folky lilt, lots of 1, 2 ,3 & 3, 4, 5 counting interspersed with some strange lyrics – a bit of a wasted opportunity really.
Having seen Barnabas play live as part of the Matt Sage Acoustic, at the Pegasus Theatre in Oxford, I felt this recording of Pray For Me, somehow lacked the energy of ‘the real thing’ so to speak. However he’s definitely worth a listen, and perhaps if he really lets rip in studio, an untapped talent.
For details of Barnabas' other releases see www.barnabasmusic.co.uk
PRAY FOR ME, is a melancholy and spiritual little tune wrapped up in a beautiful guitar and cello combo, backed by even more strings. It seems to speak of looking for more in life, wanting to transcend the ordinary and cut to the meat – but hey that’s just my poetic interpretation.
The vocals are soft, distinctive and to be blunt unusual and I kept thinking he would suddenly unleash what felt like an inert power behind them, a Tom Wait’s growl or Bowie howl – alas no! However I loved the heavy strings towards the end – reminiscent of the Beatles ‘I am the Walrus’.
GOLDEN HAIR SAVED MY LIFE - an additional track with a folky lilt, lots of 1, 2 ,3 & 3, 4, 5 counting interspersed with some strange lyrics – a bit of a wasted opportunity really.
Having seen Barnabas play live as part of the Matt Sage Acoustic, at the Pegasus Theatre in Oxford, I felt this recording of Pray For Me, somehow lacked the energy of ‘the real thing’ so to speak. However he’s definitely worth a listen, and perhaps if he really lets rip in studio, an untapped talent.
For details of Barnabas' other releases see www.barnabasmusic.co.uk