Various - The Cake Sale

  by Benjamin Howarth

published: 8 / 11 / 2007

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Review

Released a year ago in Ireland, this Oxfam fundraiser has now crossed over to these shores - and fully worthy of a UK release it is too. The album was the brainchild of the Irish band BellX1 (who, if you are wondering why you’ve heard of them, were the band that Damien Rice was in before he became famous) who form the bulk of a ‘houseband’ that plays on all nine songs. Contributions have then been sought from a range of songwriters and singers. Though the vocalists and songwriters are different on every track (and no songwriter sings their own song), this hangs together rather impressively, building up to an impressive finish where Neil Hannon (the Divine Comedy) does his best Bowie on the space-pop of ‘Aliens’. As the star of the acclaimed film, ‘Once’, Frames front man Glen Hansard’s stock has risen considerably since this was recorded. But his two contributions are especially good. He sings ‘Two Many People’, which is more direct than his typical approach and works well, and pens ‘All The Way Down’, which you can hear on the 'Once' soundtrack, for Gemma Hayes. Her vocals suit this delicate, pretty folk song. Other contributors include Nina Persson and Josh Ritter, while there is also a new Damien Rice song. Indeed, at nine tracks, there is no filler - avoiding a trap most charity records dive into. But the obvious eye-catcher is an exceptional duet between Gary Lightbody and Lisa Hannigan, which for many Snow Patrol fans will probably be worth the entrance fee alone.

Track Listing:-

1 Last Leaf
2 Vapour Trail
3 Black Winged Bird
4 Some Surprise
5 All the Way Down
6 Too Many People
7 Good Intentions Rust
8 Needles
9 Aliens