Song Competition: Featured entry - Grey by REG REPSA

EVERY so often I hear a song or an album so great that my love of it becomes evangelical - Grey by St Ives act Reg Repsa is one of them. Featuring 11 impressively atmospheric and haunting songs, this is an unsettlingly intimate recording - often reminisce

EVERY so often I hear a song or an album so great that my love of it becomes evangelical - Grey by St Ives act Reg Repsa is one of them.

Featuring 11 impressively atmospheric and haunting songs, this is an unsettlingly intimate recording - often reminiscent of post OK Computer Radiohead, a true dark work of art.

Despite the leaning towards experimentalism, the songs are strong, but sometimes a little hidden beneath a layer of reluctance on the part of singer Kerry Lambert.

Cellar Door is Reg Repsa's entry to our song competition and is the most immediately striking of the collection. It is also the most darkly paranoid song.

A sinister melody rising into a howling chorus.

Certainly one of the standout tracks is I'll Never Be On Top Of The Pops - a darkly funny song that's so downbeat that it describes itself perfectly.

Most of the songs reiterate a theme of alienation, but another anthemic song brings a brilliant ray of light into the album. We Need Song To Shine encapsulates an outsider's dependence on song for social expression and eloquence. It's a masterpiece of self-description - it builds and builds into the most emotional ending. I recommend this album to those who wish Coldplay might find themselves truly vulnerable again or Morrissey truly inventive.

See www.myspace.com/regrepsa

CHRIS BOLAND