4 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
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