He has taken on boardsuch talents as Ian McCutcheon, Darren Seymour, Nick Holton and MarkVan Hoen (on whose Locust album 'Morning Light' Halstead made a briefbut memorable vocal appearance) to assist with the recording in variousfacilities. His remarkable songwriting abilities have always invitedcomparisons to both Nick Drake and Tim Buckley, but rarely has theirinfluence been so clear as on this release. The pervasive sleepymelancholy and sumptuous lullabies of 'Sleeping on Roads', however, arethoroughly Halstead's trademarks. "Martha's Mantra (For The Pain)", anunderstated ballad of sex and religion is a particularly strikingexample of his talents. That said, it is rather surprising that thisalbum isn't as catchy as these elements would suggest. With theexception of more standout tracks such as "See You on Rooftops" and"Seasons," the songs tend to amalgamate indistinguishably after awhile, leaving the impression that Halstead may have benefited from astronger production team. The contributing artists help to balance outthe dominance of the acoustic guitar with subtle touches of cello,organ, trumpet and light electronic elements, but the guitar remains abit heavy-handed. On the other hand, being such a clearly-focusedrecord, it is most likely that his intentions were on the modest side,and in this respect, he seems to have succeeded.samples:
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