Aidan Cornhill

If fantastically hooky opener "Braver Sooner" is any indicator, this is going to be big. Aidan's knack for irresistable melody and lyrical insight, interwoven with elements both familiar and unorthadox, is in full effect. Choo-choo train rythms and beautifully mournful pedal steel laments define this, as well as the sparse, emotional "I'll Survive" and the desert-road "Honey Don't Leave". Wistful and honest, Aidan's beautiful sentimentalism avoids being trite and resonates with wisdom. The hypnotic roll of "Mahathma Rd" evokes spine-tinglingly effective scenes of old Durban, while the wry "Fools Lullaby" coos against unrealistic aspirations. And later, gentle finger-picked pieces cause tears and smiles. On his surprising debut, Aidan Cornhill speaks clearly without ever stating the obvious. - Blunt Magazine

Singer/songwriter Aidan Cornhill's Seaside B-Sides is probably not the sort of album you should be listening to when sitting in the bath snorting lines from Andrew Marvell's The Definition of Love and contemplating the vagaries of entrusting your heart to someone else. Then again, it is also the perfect accompaniment to wallowing. This is a mournful album with an ear for beautiful melody and an eye for simple observations on that complicated thing called love.

With the album completed after Cornhill's visit to Nashville Tennessee -- three songs, Rations, To Forget and White Flag, were actually recorded and mixed by Eric Fritsch at Eastwood Studios in Nashville -- the pervasive aesthetic on Seaside is American country shaded with alt-country.

The instrumentation is sparse yet evocative, with the use of the swooningly effective pedal steel, especially, tugging at the heart. Cornhill, previously a guitarist with the now defunct Deluxe, uses the acoustic guitar, harmonica, glockenspiel and his vocals effectively. He has also gathered around him some great musicians, including drummer Andy Turrell on steel pedal and Squeal mainstay Dave Birch on electric guitar, to colour in the spaces and mood.

Honey Don't Leave is one of the more musically up-tempo offerings while Heart Man has the vocals and music moving through each other creating a polymorphous spell -- such as that last, sweet time you say goodbye in bed. Braver Sooner has more hooks than a Kavadi festival, Mahatma Road has shades of the Bright Eyes and To Forget's use of backing vocals hints back to some of those classic country duets -- if only there were more of that accentuation in the song. A contemplative, melodic gem of a debut album from a musician worth looking out for in future. -- Niren Tolsi - The Mail & Guardian