For a man so steeped in the honeyed hickory grit of Gram Parsons, newcomers to Bruntnell could be forgiven for mistaking his English 'burb origins for Bakersfield, Ca. New Zealand-born, Surrey-raised and westward soul-bound, he finally drew acclaim with 2000's superb third LP, Normal For Bridgwater. Its follow-up is equally fine, studded with guitars (courtesy of 21-year-old James Walbourne and Son Volt's Eric Heywood), faint washes of piano, peals of steel and a forlorn, imagistic delivery and way around a melody reminiscent of Joe Pernice.
With Skyscraper National Park, the quiet ebb and flow of Paul Hayden Desser's cracked, sad-slow lullabies proved one of last year's more insidious treats. On record often hushed to the brink of fade, the Canadian's downbeat allure is set surprisingly aglow, however, before a pocket of punters.
