Simon van Gend - Guest of My Feelings

"Minor revelation" is a highlight, with Brendon Bussy's mandolin and Chris Letcher's piano beautifully supporting Van Gend's laconically painful voice and lyrics. "Crumble into me" could serve as a blueprint of Van Gend’s style: "You’ve got to spend time with your feelings… pain is the best of educations."

Unabashed nostalgia and soul-searching won’t be everyone’s cup of loose-leaf tea, but if it works for bands like Fokofpolisiekar, there’s no reason why it can’t work for an older market. But listening to this album, you get the feeling that a concept like 'the market' is not relevant. It’s a much more personal, heartfelt project than producing a product, and it’ll get many more fans for Van Gend’s sometimes lovely art.