Album Notes

The Smiling Strangers are a six piece band based in the UK. Their album `Dangerous Times` was released to great, critical acclaim in December 2004.

DANGEROUS TIMES
"An album that successfully swings between cynicism and joy!" BBC Radio

Dangerous Times is the first album from The Smiling Strangers. The album is, first and foremost, an album of cynical love songs and - following in the footsteps as songwriters such as Bruce Cockburn and David Wilcox - Jeff Reynolds has written an album that transcends any specific genre, revealing his understanding of the joy and sadness of human relationships.

The album reveals a wonderful gift for writing harmony and melodies that will linger with the listener from the first play onwards. The songs have been written over a long period of time and Jeff, persuaded by other musician friends, decided it was time to pull a band together and get on with business of recording. The opener Before I Fall is a classical Jeff Reynolds story of worrying over commitment with catchy melodies abounding. The delightful Somebody Knows my Name, with Lucy Winkett`s pure, yearning voice and its comforting lyrics contrasts with the starkness of Be The One and the sheer cynicism of the driving True Love with alternative lead vocalist Rue Randall to the fore.

The album engages us in an emotional tour, at one moment full of joy and then suddenly throwing us into the bitterness and emptiness of lost love. The lyrics reveal a tremendous insight into life as well as lovely observations on love, loss and rejection, as in "the clock on the wall is the second lonely face" from Before I Fall or ``take your heart and move away from me`` from True Love.

The Smiling Strangers - well worth getting to know!