Jim Laslett - Loving Should Be Easy (Chaucer Records)

If loving should be easy, so should reviewing this CD but it isn't as it turns out. So let's start out with the biog - Jim's a native of Whitstable (Kent), though his personal brand of laid-back s/s folk-rock betrays no Kentish traditional influences. Much of the current album (his second, apparently) owes more to the lazy country-folk of The Band, with reflective melodies enhancing the narratives and emotions depicted in a very attractive manner. Strongest tracks are those later on in the album which, like Doesn't Matter Anymore, Undertow and House On The Hill, build on those characteristics. Rootsy touches are supplied by Jim's well-chosen crew of backing musicians, who include melodeonist Tim Edey, bass and drums from Matt Barwick and Phil Laslett, not to mention Geoff Richardson, Simon Lee, Richard Rozze and Andy Goodall on various guitar-type instruments and some stylish soprano sax from James Ross. Jim's own unpretentious guitar work complements the overall effect of his equally unpretentious songcraft. I said that reviewing this CD wasn't altogether easy - that's because there's little to find fault with. The absence of any significantly weak material should, however, count for rather than against it; for it's a likeable product that should win Jim some more fans.