Cusick's ads say that fans of Porcupine Tree and Pink Floyd would like the album, as it should - the album wears its influences on its sleeve and the comparisons to Porcupine Tree are evident. The album has that dark, melancholy sound that is a hallmark of both Porcupine Tree and Pink Floyd, and the overall production is very similar to Porcupine Tree's latest album, The Incident.
Not to say that Focal Point is a bad album - it's not. In fact, for a one-man self-release it's quite strong. The album is more song oriented than those of its influences and is a combination of heavier songs and ballads, including a few instrumentals. The album starts off well with the title track, a sub-3 minute instrumental in 7/8 time that sets the tone for the record. The musicianship is strong, and even though Cusick played all the instruments, it sounds like a band, which is a testament to his multi-instrumental skills.
The album consists of 10 original pieces, with track 11 being a remix of track six, "Touch." The first half of the album is the strongest. The title track and the second track, "Everblue," make a fine introduction to Cusick's work. "Everblue" shows the strong Porcupine Tree influence and has all the pieces to pull it off - heavy guitars, lilting piano and soft lyrics with a hint of an English accent. Cusick's voice isn't strong but he makes the best of it, with multiple layering and harmonizing, even though his range is limited. In fact, one of the weak points of this album is the homogeneity - the songs just sound too much alike. An expansion of his vocal range would have given many of the songs more power.
Musically, Cusick's use of dynamics works well. "Scared to Dream" is another strong track that builds from a soft piano intro to full-on electric rock. "Touch" follows a similar pattern, but the build is much slower, with the heavier section not kicking in until well over three minutes. "Touch" is also more bass-heavy and groove-oriented, with the guitar taking a back seat to the piano/synth lines.
"Senza Tempo" is Cusicks' David Gilmour moment on the album, and "Big Cars" is what could only be described as prog-punk and is one of the most original sounding songs on the album.
The ballads as a whole are weaker than the heavier songs. "Fade Away" is a melancholy song about growing older, and despite the Beatles-esque verses it just seems to plod along too much. It's not a terrible song, but it doesn't stand out, either. "Hold On" is a power-rock ballad that sounds like the most blatant attempt to write a rock-radio-friendly song. Again, it's not a bad song, but the formula has been done before - "keep your chin up during hard times" lyrics over soaring, medium tempo music. The song includes news clips of bad news and the announcer sounds strangely similar to the one used by Transatlantic in The Whilrwind. Perhaps he's a well-known British newscaster, but the similarity is uncanny - like it was put in there specifically to sound like Transatlantic. The sentiment is similar, too, although there's no religious pretense in Cusick's work.
The last ballad on the album, "Hello," is by far the weakest track and could have been left off, leaving "Hold On" to close out the album. There's nothing worse than a weak ending to an album - it leaves the listener with a sense of wanting more. The remix of "Touch" sounds too similar to the original. If Cusick really wanted to keep "Hello" on the record he should have moved it up closer to the heavier songs and ended with "Hold On."
But this is a minor gripe to what is on the whole a strong album. While maybe not as progressive as promoted, Focal Point is an excellent debut album and proves that one person recording on his own can put together a stronger, better quality album than many mainstream artists. He should be an inspiration to all the bedroom musicians who wish to write and produce their own recordings and is proof that it can be done. It's well written and well produced and is one of those albums that gets better with each listen. It has its ups and downs, but Focal Point is a worthy album and hopefully points to even better music on the horizon from this talented musician.
Focal Point gets a score of 3.5 out of 5 and is definitely worth the download from Cusick's web site.
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