Skybound, the second album by London’s
Tom Baxter, reveals the singer/songwriter to be as mellow as a latter-day
James Taylor. However, he clearly wishes to be taken seriously as an artist along the lines of
Jeff Buckley, and so there is a certain earnestness to much of
Skybound that keeps
Baxter from writing sure-fire chart-toppers like
John Mayer's "Daughters" or any of
Sting’s solo hits. Indeed, sometimes it seems that he has learned the lessons of his influences a little too well: The first single, "Better," is so tasteful, from the just-so cracks in
Baxter's voice to the deliberate build of the arrangement, that it verges on predictable. For every moment like that, however,
Skybound offers another filled with genuine artistry. The opening "Night Like This," for example, dabbles in some atmospheric keyboard fills that wouldn't sound out of place on an
Air album, and "Tell Her Today" flirts with Brazilian rhythms and a slurred whisper of a vocal akin to
Nick Drake. ~ Stewart Mason