5 of 5 Wonderful spacey stuff, June 23 2005
Reviewer: Baldy Bouncer
Freshwater East is a breathtaking collection of finely honed work by one of Manchesters’ most highly underrated acts. From the haunting strains of the opener Ten Rupees, the listener gets an insight into the uniqueness that is to come from the rest of the album. Pete Wain and Ian Morrison are the songwriting force behind this excellent line up. Their grasp of the concept of melody will be the first thing to grab you, their ability to make you laugh and cry within the same verse is outstanding. Together with Dave Crewe on backing vocals, the trio’s innate harmonising lends an air of staggering beauty, which reaches a jaw dropping peak at the end of Blue Diamond. All this is layered over the skillful musicianship of Sam Bishop on keyboards, whose distinct bluesy style complements and contrasts elegantly, and the noose-tight rhythm section provided by Dave’s turbulent yet authoritative drumming, and Steve Jolley’s gutsy and perceptive bassing. By the time you reach the album’s epic closing track, Dumb Angel, you will feel you have been on a journey like no other, full of soul searching, elation, wonder, magic and dreams. Marrying gorgeous melodies with evil organ sounds, gentle acoustic guitars with hard edged beats, and perfect harmonies with spaceship noises, you will never have heard anything like this before!

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