SUM OF PARTS

3.5 stars. A step down in my opinion, and while it would be fair to say that there's not much to choose between Dean Watson's first four studio albums I do feel that this 2017 release is the first one where for my tastes we get some tracks that are just "okay". And the programmed drums haven't been a problem for me up until now but on here I noticed them a few times sounding not real. I was playing this record and "Fantasizer!" often back to back this past week so maybe it's more that "Fantasizer!" is just that much better and it's hard not to compare them when I was basically doing that all week. Anyway another great sounding record and virtuoso guitar and keyboard work abound but I'll stick with the first three and be very happy in doing so. The first three tracks fail to capture my imagination but then "Song For A Day" comes along restoring my faith and it continues with "Click Clack" where we get some darker and heavier moments. I like "Sense Of Urgency" a lot and "D Day" is hit and miss but mostly hit. But the closer "Afterthought" is going out on a high.