The Wind & the Waves is a gentle, easy-listening kind of album. All of the songs have been written and arranged by Peter Lainson, for whom it seems a very personal journey. There are songs of childhood, friendship and love, and although intensely personal to the musician, they also have a broad appeal to a wider audience.

If we are lucky, we can recall the security of a parent's hand holding ours above the cliffs and pounding surf, the magic of the wave sounds in a seashell, and some of us can then pass on this experience to our own children ("The Wind & The Waves"). The tender love for "Georgi Claire" is well expressed; you can hear her breathing deep in sleep, and picture the sunlight in her hair. Peter is fortunate to have an "Old Friend" -- "just a memory away ... whose secrets he keeps, and it's a two way kind of thing/started way back when." Constant friendship is a jewel in life and this is one of my favourite songs on the CD.

The "Long Days in the Summertime" is a classic retrospective vignette on those endless and carefree childhood days and is followed by a beautiful guitar-led instrumental that allows the listener to drift into and luxuriate in their own happy memories. There are three songs with a less obvious personal touch, the initially sad but ultimately hopeful "By the Side of the Road," the bitter but clearly painted tale of "Well's Run Dry" and the empathetic "Someone I Know Well." The other songs are of journeys, either real ("Lane Hi-Way to Rosebud"), spiritual ("Closer to the Fire") or of the semi-conscious dreaming mind ("Gone in the Morning").

Even without the photo illustrations throughout the cover booklet and the lyrics in front of you, Lainson's words and music create wonderfully vivid videos in one's mind. It is easy to juxtapose his boys on bikes in summer with a memory of your own. He closes the album with "To You," a touching declaration of love, working with images of nature, flowers and skies to emphasize the perennial aspect of love, the renewal that a good relationship undergoes to affirm the respect and love.

This is pleasant music to have playing in the background, but take the time to enter Lainson's lyrics and be transported to past times and other emotions. Although predominantly of the "feel-good" variety, there is sufficient mention of the downside and sharper aspect of life to prevent it being smaltzy. It is a good debut album, and it will be interesting to see where he goes with future work.

- Rambles
written by Jenny Ivor
published 15 January 2005