AND CLOSE AS THIS

When it comes to PH, naturally I go for any of his 70's releases, they are much more exciting and complex, but to ignore his 80's output would be a severe loss for any lover of music. Taking a simpler approach (though nothing is ever 'simple' regarding this genius), 'And Close As This' shows what an intelligent musician can create with 'one pass of the hands across a keyboard', as stated on the back cover of the LP. I gather that this means he's basically playing the song 'solo' on a piano (or computer sequence) with no further musical over-dubs as such. The songs remain full of emotion, passionately sung and powerful. Strongest tracks, IMO, would have to be 'Too Many Of My Yesterdays', the beautiful 'Empire Of Delight' and 'Silver'. The song 'Sleep Now', is a lullaby to one of his daughters, and is a lovely change from his usual, 'loud' self. Excellent album - 4.