Tom Baxter - The Uncarved Block (2018)

'The Uncarved Block' is Baxter's most searingly personal work to date, performed entirely solo and with gorgeous illustration on guitar and piano. It's a beautiful and elegant return to his very core as a songwriter and a human being. "I feel like I've been though a very slow metamorphosis over the years," he says. "Even I'm not sure into what, but I can say I'm calmer inside, and I thought it was time for a full-on new release." While other artists rush so readily to provide the personal information that feeds the beast of self-promotion, Tom has kept his counsel, determined to be defined only by his music, and at his own pace. But it has been a tumultuous ten years. He married the longtime girlfriend for whom he wrote the Ivor Novello Award-nominated 'Better,' but then endured a divorce and, more recently, was happily remarried. Along the way, he lived in Devon, travelled to India, Los Angeles, Spain and then to Brazil, the place that inspired him to find the impetus to write again.