In a nutshell: Phil Danyew's six-song EP debut is technically polished but lyrically generic. There's good sonic balance between hooky power anthems, the piano-tinged love ballad "Turnstile," and the rollicking "Nothing Without You." But while "Streetlight" references "love burning brighter than a million stars," the chorus can only muster the metaphor that "You're my streetlight." A streetlight? Liner notes indicate with a capital You that God is the focus of most of the album's love-song emotion ("Turnstile" notwithstanding). Still, most songs are ambiguous enough to sound human-directed. There's a lot of musical skill here. Hopefully experience will foster more lyrical depth and creativity.
