A Review

A Review - The Star Newspaper

English pop band Ultra breaks new pop ground on this eponymous debut. Blending pop styles from both the 80's and 90's, there's a freshness in the quartet's brand of music, setting them apart from the blandness pervading the pop scene these days. Simple but clever melodies and lyrics from the songwriting skills of vocalist James Hearne and guitarist Michael Harwood, along with solid support from drummer Jon O'Mahoney(who also co-writes) and bassist Nick Keynes, make this album worth its weight in gold.

You've got fresh energy in the debut single Say You Do, and the synthguitar pop blend of the second single Say It Once speaks volumes of the quartet's talents. There's an element of some sort of jazz-fusion-pop throwback with Blind To The Groove and B.A.S.I.C., reminding one of the late 80's pop exponents Curiosity Killed The Cat, the Blow Monkeys and even shades of Sade. Experience a dash of acoustic folk-pop in Afterlife and a moody, atmospheric feel to A New Dimension. Even the pop-Caribbean-calypso feel of Up And Over sounds fresh compared to some of the monotonous sounds of the British pop scene these days.

There is something uniquely Ultra stamped on most of the tracks, cleverly forging and identity for the band without making it sound tedious and bridging the credibility gap between boy-band pop and Brit-pop. Besides, you can't fault the musical arrangement, especially the cleverly executed bass-lines and stylish atmospheric synthesiser work accompanying each track. Ultra doesn't seem blind to the groove, we're talking classic melodic guitar pop at its best here.