Self pity has always been the curse of the sensitive singer songwriter and it is, of course, to be found in the rather downbeat EP “Helping Hands” by Man of the Minch with many of the five songs stumbling somewhat awkwardly along the path of mixed conventionalities.
The songs are generally of a much higher calibre than the often clumsy arrangements with “Borderland”, in particular, sounding like a demo that had the misfortune to escape into the wild. Lyrically though, there is, fortunately, value to be gained from closer inspection with the isolation that comes with being perceived as average being eloquently captured in “Ordinary” and, whilst probably the most conventional song here, voice and fiddle successfully follow a well-travelled folk path in the near spiritual “As The Haar Turns To Dew”.
So, all in all, there are good things to be found in this EP but Man of the Minch – aka fiddler Pedro Cameron from The Dirty Beggars – would benefit from the services of a sympathetic producer for his next release.