22 Dec 2024
Tom Cunliffe - Album Review: Template For Love
01 May 2018 // A review by Paul Goddard
I must admit when I came across this I was put
off by the album title Template for Love as I am more of an 'Instructions for
Chaos' kind of guy.
Life is much richer if you push into the unknown, challenge the preconceptions and explore with an open mind which is exactly what Tom Cunliffe has done on this his second album. A more indie feel than its folkier predecessor and the focus is wide as Tom delves into the complexities and highs and lows of human interaction.
There really is something for everyone in these songs with standout favourite for me being I Have Been Bitten by A White Man.
Tom's UK/NZ heritage also has an influence as an indie pop sensibility flows throughout and mixes with the NZ sun and surf vibe. It is both retro and modern and needs to be heard over and over.
It is a displaced feeling sitting in a bar in a wet Caranby Street in London writing this review listening to Primrose Hill as Tom describes this quintessential London scene and yet it makes me think of deserted New Zealand beaches.
Template for Love is a collection of heart felt well-crafted songs that introduce themselves with a wink and a smile. They make you think and are interesting, so you want to hear more, want to listen again, they connect......so actually this album has the perfect title. I am glad I listened, and you will be too.
★★★★ (4 stars)
Review written by Paul Goddard
I must admit when I came across this I was put
off by the album title Template for Love as I am more of an 'Instructions for
Chaos' kind of guy.Life is much richer if you push into the unknown, challenge the preconceptions and explore with an open mind which is exactly what Tom Cunliffe has done on this his second album. A more indie feel than its folkier predecessor and the focus is wide as Tom delves into the complexities and highs and lows of human interaction.
There really is something for everyone in these songs with standout favourite for me being I Have Been Bitten by A White Man.
Tom's UK/NZ heritage also has an influence as an indie pop sensibility flows throughout and mixes with the NZ sun and surf vibe. It is both retro and modern and needs to be heard over and over.
It is a displaced feeling sitting in a bar in a wet Caranby Street in London writing this review listening to Primrose Hill as Tom describes this quintessential London scene and yet it makes me think of deserted New Zealand beaches.
Template for Love is a collection of heart felt well-crafted songs that introduce themselves with a wink and a smile. They make you think and are interesting, so you want to hear more, want to listen again, they connect......so actually this album has the perfect title. I am glad I listened, and you will be too.
★★★★ (4 stars)
Review written by Paul Goddard
About Tom Cunliffe
Longer: In 2011 Tom Cunliffe released a collection of early songs called Red Leather Blues, written in the dark, recorded in a corner of his bedroom and sent out into the world with all the confidence of a bemused baby ferret venturing out of his hole for the first time.
It wasn’t long after that he started to take things a little more seriously and since moving from Wellington up to Auckland, managed to share the stage with the likes of Wagons, Hopetoun Brown, Will Wood, Bernie Griffen, Skyscraper Stan and Holly Arrowsmith.
Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Tom Cunliffe
Releases
Other Reviews By Paul Goddard
Cairo Knife Fight - EP Review: Dream Season
19 Jul 2024 // by Paul Goddard
Cairo Knife Fight have been around a while and been through a lot. Spawned in NZ and now based in the U S of A it has been a journey full of highs and lows.
Read More...
The Dirty Tones - Album Review: Sweet Thang
23 May 2024 // by Paul Goddard
For me, Blues music is the real soul music. It has storytelling like Country and folk music and passion like Rock music, but at its core it gives a window into the soul of the people creating it.
Read More...
Sam Cullen - EP Review: Love Again
18 Apr 2024 // by Paul Goddard
When I first heard this brand-new EP from Invercargill native Sam Cullen, I was immediately reminded of another famous Sam who has an equally famous last name (Fender).The four songs on the Love Again EP have a familiarity and similarity with roots going back to Springsteen and the well-trodden stadium rock road but there is also something in the songs on Love Again that could only be grown in New Zealand.
Read More...
Skitch Hiker - Single Review: Slippery Wet Handshake
30 Jun 2023 // by Paul Goddard
Wow.Just when you have given up on music and banging your head against a brick wall wondering why Taylor Swift is more popular than toilet roll during a pandemic something like this comes along.
Read More...
Retro Valley - Single Review: Backseat Lovers
19 May 2023 // by Paul Goddard
Right from the opening bars of Backseat Lovers by Hamilton-based Retro Valley it is clear that this song is pure class.This 3-minute tune is a next-level lesson in how to create, perform and produce a pop/indie classic.
Read More...
Murmur Tooth and Lars Moston - Album Review: No Time To Explain
19 May 2023 // by Paul Goddard
Collaborations can work. Sometimes they do most of the time they don't.
Read More...
Album Review: Sex Dad's Greatest Hits: The Very Best Of Sex Dad
27 Dec 2022 // by Paul Goddard
Feeling bloated and underwhelmed. Listening to mainstream radio in the car as I left my phone at home.
Read More...
Marrow Neck - EP Review: Made Up
23 Nov 2022 // by Paul Goddard
Sitting here in a very wet and cold, rainy UK watching the oldies falling out of the local Wetherspoons where they have been on the piss since 9am (yep the UK is weird it's only the old people who can afford to get pissed all day).I am reflecting on the past as I listen to the latest EP Made Up from Auckland-based Mark Hannington.
Read More...
Most Viewed Artists
Latest Galleries
NZ Top 10 Singles
- APT.
ROSÉ And Bruno Mars - DIE WITH A SMILE
Lady Gaga And Bruno Mars - BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Billie Eilish - TASTE
Sabrina Carpenter - I LOVE YOU, I'M SORRY
Gracie Abrams - ESPRESSO
Sabrina Carpenter - SAILOR SONG
Gigi Perez - LOSE CONTROL
Teddy Swims - A BAR SONG (TIPSY)
Shaboozey - GOOD LUCK, BABE!
Chappell Roan
More Content on muzic.net.nz
Google Site Search
Custom Search
100% New Zealand Music
All content on this website is copyright to muzic.net.nz and other respective rights holders. Redistribution of any material presented here without permission is prohibited.
Report A Problem
