aaamusic | On 15, May 2011

The “Outskirts of Prosper” is a rather lovely listen that will put a smile on your face from the first note and maintain it until its last. It manages to be relaxed at the same time as incredibly heartfelt along with providing about as much variety as you could ever ask from a solo artist.

The album begins with “Pushover Boy Blues” where the clue is somewhat in the title and there is a strong blues influence throughout the track along with a gorgeous sparkly guitar sound. The blues theme continues through the album and is no more obvious than on “Head Over Heels” which could sound incredibly clichéd but instead is carried through by a thumping beat that gives the track an incredibly upbeat tone that manages to defy the expectations that one might normally have of a blues track. “Black Dress” gives the listener a lesson in country with a lyric that celebrates finding new love. Then comes “Coming Home” and something entirely different again with a rawer production for this gorgeous piano led ballad. “It’s Lovely” takes on a completely different sound and wouldn’t sound out of place on any modern pop album. There is a searing honesty throughout “Outskirts of Prosper” where the production is never more important than the creation of something special.

Sometimes variety is a term synonymous with doing a lot of genres in an average way but that is categorically not true of this album; hugely ambitious from the offset, Lind delivers excellence on every track whether he is lamenting lost love or celebrating the new love that he has found. It is rare to find an artist with the versatility to make an album like this; one where every track stands out in spite of the quality that has come before it. Well worth fifty minutes of your time.