From Gas to Solid / You Are My Friend is the new album from Soap&Skin, released via Play it Again Sam. Fans have been waiting some time for this album, the last LP was 2012's Narrow, so was the wait worth it...?

I have to admit that I wasn't overly taken with what Soap&Skin delivered here. The album's 12 tracks (41 min, 41 sec) just seemed to merge into one rather bland affair. There was little here that made me sit up and take notice, and the end result was that I was left thinking this was like any one of a thousand indie bands who have yet to be discovered.

What they do, they do well enough, it's just that there seems to be no life, no spark of enthusiasm, that will keep you coming back for more.

But the clincher was the inclusion of a cover of Louis Armstrong's 1967 'It's a Wonderful World'. What could have been something a little different ends up sounding half-hearted and rather dull.

Fans of the band may get something out of this... but I was left feeling decidedly cold.

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Nick Smithson