It's a sad fact that to the majority, the music of Eddi Reader is lost forever. And that while millions buy Corrs albums from the handy Top Ten racks in motorway service stations and supermarkets, a little digging would reveal something more sensual, pure and soulful. Something as precious as 'Simple Soul'.
Oft remembered for fronting Fairground Attraction and for their chart-topping hit 'Perfect' in 1988, Reader has since released four solo albums of quality. And yet, while maintaining the romantic, crisply strummed and folksome air that made Fairground's debut album 'First Of A Million Kisses' so popular, the Glaswegian singer/songwriter hasn't so far found the same success.
'Simple Soul' then, with it's songs of love, loneliness, dreams of escape and yearning for more from life, will no doubt please the devoted Reader-ship, while being largely ignored by those who prefer the distinctly soul-less Corrs and their MTV-friendly good looks.
Reader has an incredible voice. So sad, and soulful, strong and vulnerable. Hitting the purest of notes, she hits home with her emotions and experiences amidst pretty, sparkling guitar work, strings, the wheeze of the squeezebox, warm bass and pedal-steel. "The loneliest sound of all, is the sound of love through a stranger's wall" she sighs on 'Footsteps Fall' and for a moment you're lying there looking up at the ceiling feeling sorry for yourself as your neighbours go at it hammer and tongs.
The gentle, brushed beats-powered 'Blues Run The Game' yearns for an escape from heartbreak, in booze, other towns or foreign climes, 'Prodigal Daughter' is a gorgeous chiming home-coming and the title track is a dreamy longing for a less complicated more natural life - something we could all do with.
A fine album then, of classic acoustic songs. And if there was any justice, in a climate which reckons that quiet is the new loud and hails the work of Nick Drake and copyists like Turin Brakes, Kings Of Convenience and Belle & Sebastian, Eddi Reader would thrive. We'll see shall we. We'll see.
