In my mind I'm wandering Hyde Park. A grey flannel sky hangs low but there's a break in the clouds over there. Funny Notion‚ slides through the headphones. My gait changes to match the loping bass line. The sun hits my eyelids and I turn my face to the warmth. I smile. The girls seem prettier. I feel like my pockets are filled with money. I love those Playfair Steps. Please Yourself, indeed. Ogden has a great sense of melody and melody is the only thing that matters to me. Sounds like he had fun making the disc. As for the songs: Do You Know is a beaut. I like Wish very much, especially the guitar lead. Same Blue is a killer, my favorite on the disc. I enjoyed King Size Bed a lot. Angel Overhead is powerful stuff. Better Man reminds me of Nick Drake. In fact, I hear a lot of Nick Drake throughout (i.e., "Same Blue."). That's not to say it sounds like a Nick Drake disc, necessarily, just that it has that certain presence. A spaciousness and an underlying emotional intensity that Drake had.

This album pulls you with it for the duration. Subtle rhythms and acoustic guitars complement Michael's warm, inviting vocals and the lyrics take the listener far from their earthly position. The songwriting is strong and original and the production avoids the standard boring traps. An excellent album.

A wonderfully creative CD, with true to the heart lyrics and energized musical tracks. Reminiscent of the wistfulness of Gomez, and the searing writing of Beck, Mike's talent for songwriting is quite evident.

Intriguing lyrics, beautiful voice..quite Damien Rice and Adam Masterson > >An incredibly impressive achievement - lifted my day - "say hello and tell me something I shouldn't know"..