Tom Baxter - Skybound (2007)

The second album from London based singer/songwriter was co-produced by Jeremy Stacey (Sheryl Crow, Nerina Pallot). Baxter continues with the laidback, easy listening pop of his debut while incorporating Spanish influences into his sound. Among the songs is the single "Better", which was featured in the Simon Pegg/David Schwimmer movie RUN, FAT BOY RUN.

Amazon.com
Anyone that heard British singer/songwriter Tom Baxters superb 2004 debut album Feather and Stone, will have marked him down as a consummate talent and inevitable chart-botherer. But while Baxters obvious skills garnered a heap of critical reviews, he somehow failed to penetrate the mainstream. The same fate seems unlikely to befall Skybound, Baxters sophomore effort and an album that more than makes good on his early promises. Combining his soulful, mesmerising voice with understated guitar and piano work and some deft songwriting, Skybound is more a concept album than its predecessor, in that it loosely charts the journey from boy to man. As before Baxter fuses elements of jazz and blues with compelling results, adding rhythmic double bass and orchestral accompaniments that create a mellifluous and sophisticated aura. There are some affecting Spanish touches too, such as the Andalucian flourishes on the title track and the flamenco undertones of "Tell Her Today". While the ballads here--"Better" for example-can tend towards the schmaltzy, Baxter balances these moments with darker material like the fabulously moody, tempo-changing "Icarus Wings". Its a solid second album that, just like the first, has "bright future" written all over it. --Danny McKenna