Flat Stanley - Between 2 Worlds

For all you people who haven't attended a Flat Stanley (named after the project) concert, or met one of the lads (Mac, Cinton or Neill), or been bombarded by their HI FLATSTANLEYERS!!!!! size 15 ARIAL font newsletters, or heard their music, these are some Cape Town locals bringing together some exciting tunes the last couple of years.

Mac and the men start the new offering off with Daytrippers. My initial fear with their new offering was that it might end up being a tad ponderous and slow again, like their previous offering, Of Secrets and Wine. That album had absolutely brilliant songs on it along the likes of Treading Air, Mowgli, Rain, Real Live Girl, but I felt after a thorough listening that the concentration of slow, finger picked songs and sensitive falsetto vocal deliveries was just a bit high. The faster songs stood out and seemed to be their hits at the time. Glad I was to see that Between 2 Worlds is a different kettle of fish. I would spitball that it is due to Neill and Mac adding more of their songs to the mix, as Clinton is a more fingerstyle orientated guitarist and the first album reflected it in his songs. Make no mistake, you can't beat the man on melody and hook. Not bad for a sport psychologist who has worked with the SA Olympic team and the Proteas...

I was also glad to see Neill (remember Flow?) pulling out his gold top Les Paul for some electric sounds again. Again the previous album was marked by such electric restraint that it almost sounded dull. That issue I would lay at the feet of producer Theo Crouse, who a rocker himself, probably tried to overcompensate to produce an album of acoustic pop melodies.

Paper Thin keeps the tempo up with very Brit-pop, almost Lightning Seeds type sounds. Song for the broken hearted gives us the electric treatment in the Soul Asylum veign and I Warrior reminds us that the boys have still their acoustic roots firmly planted.

My impression overall is that the dry production tone is kept (no wet reverby, echo-y,studio-esque effects), and when performing live, the band would probably do the album justice.

Outer Space ends the album, after coasting through some really digestable and nice tunes, to mark another album of high quality. For me, the album missed a Treading Air climax, but altogether is a more solid, and probably better offering than the debut. Good tunes, good songwriting, neat production and generally nothing to complain about, makes Between 2 Worlds a great album to buy, keep, and listen on the road between Loxton and Carnavon, when pondering your destiny, missing your girlfriend and whistling a nice tune flows together with the countryside and nicely plucked open chords, a bit of beat and it's all good attitude.

MP3s available at

Rhythm Online Music Store