Focal Point - Paul Cusick

A couple of weeks ago I did something I very rarely do. I clicked on an advert on the internet. It was for a musician I'd never heard of, Paul Cusick, who the advert billed as being like Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree and Nine Inch Nails. Sounded interesting. I clicked through and had a listen to the sample tracks.

I'm not sure about the list of similarities, but what I heard was some pretty decent prog rock. Not hard rock in any way, but good stuff and similar to many things I already like. There are hints of Porcupine Tree in there, and certainly I can hear hints of Bryan Josh in there. A lack of long, meandering instrumentals and more to-the-point lyrical hooks make it a more mainstream sound than many prog artists, and it loses nothing for it.

Paul Cusick (aka Q) has been the guitarist for several prog bands, Gabriel, Ripped and Riversea, who I've never really listened to. Perhaps I should, because if this is the sort of talent they have playing for them they're probably worth a listen. His solo debut album, Focal Point, is available in myriad formats from his website. He's certainly been very considerate when producing for the widest possible audience, and has maintained his own record label so he can control distribution.

A couple of listens is all it took to convince me to buy the album. I bought the CD, but with that you also get a download version in a format of your choice. The usual contenders (high and low bitrate MP3) are there, but also VBR MP3, AAC, FLAC and even OGG. Can't fault him for not covering all bases! Once downloaded, I was very impressed by the production quality of something as simple as an MP3 file. The first track, Focal Point, has the album cover as the artwork. Subsequent tracks have their respective pages from the little book, complete with lyrics when viewed large. A very nice touch and will definitely be appreciated.

The music then. There is quite a variety on there. Everblue is a great track, using some interesting vocal techniques to make a complex, immersive track. Fade Away and Hello mellow out to become almost balladic in their melancholy, while Big Cars and Soul Words stand out as being the most proggish with some of the best riffs. There's even a bit of political commentary in Hold On with a rather depressing, but fitting for the genre, message about holding on to what you've got. An eclectic mix of styles which, unsurprisingly, we at TME find most agreeable.

Another nice touch is that, once the CD arrived, Paul included an autographed postcard of the album cover, not signed en masse but personalised for each customer. The CD packaging itself is very good, with some nice artwork and good integration of the song lyrics. I've very much enjoyed looking through the little book, and of course seeing as I have the downloaded MP3s on my iPod, I can enjoy it when listening to it out and about too.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this random purchase brought on by a momentary lapse in judgement. Although not all the tracks are amazing, they are well laid out and hold the album together. An excellent first solo album.