ReprinT Rec. 
Simon Kent : Pillo (UK,2008)***°
While the first track of the album, the most straight-forward pop-rock track comparable to some popular early 90s styled pop-rock bands, is taken for a single to spread the word for a wider public, personally I like much more the other, calmer tracks where the band takes care of a more texturing, slightly ambient-rock mood, while Simon’s singing sounds (accompanied by acoustic guitar) much more from the heart, and there he takes time to pronounce the songs and let its flow lead the songs evolutions very much, an approach which would fit easily to Mark Hollis’s approach (from former Talk Talk). It is no surprise to hear that Phil Brown, responsible for the two most advanced and individual Talk Talk releases (he also produced Chemical Brothers,..) produced and mixed the songs. I also wonder how much also the title (“Pillo”) wasn’t some sort of admiring reference to the same Phil Brown. The songs don’t really need much more than be shown in its sincere form, of lonely but heart-warm expressions. With the last, more stretched, and only instrumental track it is clear that the band isn’t of the same level as Talk Talk or so, and it shows being a bit limited in range into stretch longer spaces of music than is needed for the songs, although also this moody leave it with some distance in space outro still fits well as a conclusion.
