Born out of dog hugging, baby slapping etc, front man Russell Huie (former bands include: Edgerton, The Letter 3, Wish Found Nation) is performing songs under his own name these days. Influenced by so many great musicians, Russell's songwriting is subtle and brilliant, with a true poetry to it. Occasionally we get to see some of the guitar licks we loved from his funk lead guitar days, but with his new album (Cheer the Bombs On EP - Canon Records) mostly it's an elegant and smooth indie-pop ride. The six songs of his new EP are in fact a tour of his chief influences in playing and songwriting. The opening track, BRIGHTER DARK hints both in name and in movement to the late Nick Drake, whose unique brand of songwriting had a profound effect on Russell. From there the EP shows us a more upbeat, pop-friendly song with MATINEE, drawing at least in production from an admiration of Oxford's other band, Supergrass. PEPPERMINT BLUES is a slow acoustic ballad, and the vocal influence of early Rufus Wainwright shines through on the narrator's more vulnerable moments of the song. The mainstream influences are there too, as in COBWEBS, where one cannot help drawing comparisons to Coldplay, who we all loved back in the late 90's. Finish it off with PORCELA, a straight up rock ballad, and HUM, Russell's tribute to the Norwegian singer, Sondre Lerche, and you have a more accurate picture of what to expect from Russell's new record, a "great 20 minute indie pop journey."
