STEVE SKAITH BAND - MEXILE (Pläne/Aris, 11/44:51)

Steve Skaith was the singer, guitarist and composer of the successful British band Latin Quarter, who with their first three excellent albums, were also very popular in Germany. Some years after the break up of the band, Steve Skaith moved to Mexico, where he still lives today. Now, with support from four Mexican musicians, he has released his first solo album. Skaith composed the music for all the songs himself, and most of the lyrics were written by Latin Quarter’s lyricist Mike Jones. “Model Son” and “Race Me Down” are reworkings of old Latin Quarter songs. Of the nine new songs, “Seniorita No” impresses the most. Musically, acoustic instruments are to the fore and all solo guitar parts are played by a classical guitar. Fundamentally, Skaith has kept the successful style of the Latin Quarter years, although he can’t manage to repeat the varied and grandiose melodies of this phase. This isn’t so terrible, as the eleven songs stand out from the multitude and are worth listening to. Sadly, Skaith has put himself an obstacle in the way, as he has released them under his own name, which hardly anyone has heard of. This should lessen sales of the CD.

Reprinted with the kind permission of GoodTimes magazine Nr.6/2003