Chris Helme ... Ashes By Steve Rudd

The inspirational debut solo album from former Seahorses frontman Chris Helme, Ashes is a lovingly conceived and produced album of the highest order, having been recorded in Castleford by Ben Hammond. What's more, a hidden bonus track is sure to delight any Seahorses fans who pick up a copy...

Kicking off with the emotionally intense strains of Morning Sun, it's hard to believe that it's the same Chris Helme that used to be singer and guitarist in The Seahorses alongside John Squire.

Back in the day when he was regularly performing on TV shows such as TOTP and TFI Friday, as well as on festival bills such as at Glastonbury, his voice sounded fantastic, but these days it's so soulful that it literally does hurt. Every syllable that he sings bleeds with raw emotion. Taking life and love at large as the inspiration for his spellbinding tunes, the subtly endearing melodies prove the perfect foil for the strength of his voice. Last High is a genuine tour-de-force, while bold covers of Yellow Lights (written by Marissa Nadler) and Lorali (by The Soledad Brothers) are fabulously refreshing interpretations of two naturally beautiful songs that have been sprinkled with more than a dash of Chris's musical magic.

Melancholy Lullabies can't fail to tug at the heartstrings, yet it's the lilting Moonbeams that's bound to shatter one's heart into tiny pieces. Indeed, such a song had such a profound influence on a friend of Chris's that she was inspired to start organizing evenings of Acoustic music in Driffield, going so far as to dub such evenings 'Moonbeams Evenings.' So, it just goes to show how the power of music really does have the capacity to move people to do great things.

The final two tracks that grace Ashes are Broken and Pure. Both are wondrously affecting tunes that hear Chris's voice at its best. To not be affected by the purity of spirit in his music, one's senses must be stone cold dead. Pouring his heart out by default, the range of his voice sounds to know no limits as it soars, caressing words, fragments of ideas, rushes of lovelorn sentiments as though his life depends on spewing them forth with unbridled passion.

Featuring a smattering of guest musicians, Andrew Stones's sultry turn on steel guitar makes its presence felt on Last High, while Jon Hargreaves plays Hammond organ on Morning Sun, Yellow Lights and Broken to stunning effect. Not to be outdone, Richard Lacy's contribution to Pure on grand piano doesn't go unnoticed either.

So, while the glory days of The Seahorses might have been consigned to a particularly heady period of Brit-Pop history, Chris Helme is currently producing the most beautiful, mature and downright intoxicating music of his career. To hear it is to love it, and to love it is to live it. In all its deep-thinking and soul-shaking glory, Ashes is one of those all-too-rare masterpieces that genuinely does wield the capacity to soundtrack one's life through every trial and tribulation known to man. It really is that special, that ravishing, that unique. www.myspace.com/chrishelmesolo

thisisUll.com Featured Writer Steve Rudd
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