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by Ewan Black - Guest Columnist, UlsterMusic.com

The Limelight, Belfast [Feb 26, 2007]: by all accounts Charlotte Hatherley’s new album “The Deep Blue” is a major step forward for the former Ash guitarist. It’s accomplished arrangements and depth of character demonstrate a maturity sometimes lacking in the debut “Grey Will Fade“. Numbers in the The Limelight have swelled, but not by much, and as the band take the stage with album opener “Cousteau” in the background, it’ll be an effort to get things cooking.

We kick off with “I Want You To Know” and from the get-go, on-stage energy appears to be at half power, save for Charlotte’s confident presentation and the drummer’s crazy afro bouncing in the background. The rhythm guitarist and bass player look bored and asleep respectively and for the second time tonight there’s a band on-stage that doesn’t seem to have joined all the dots. So its pure hooks and volume that carry us into “Grey Will Fade” opener “Kim Wilde” and the crowd duly cheers the familiar material.

Five more tunes from the new album are greeted with appreciation by an audience that for the most part has only heard single “Behave” but its GWF blues-rocker “Summer” that is again greeted with glowing approval. A gallop through “Bastardo” and we’re already into the final number, but hasty, and sadly inadequate tuning brings it to an embarassing halt and restart, before the band encores two tunes, including a choppy cover of XTC’s “This is Pop”.

In fairness, you feel like a lot of these tunes, new and old, should only be heard from the heart of a throbbing mosh-pit, instead of the subdued Sunday night crew in attendance and songs like “Be Thankful”, “Dawn Treader” and “Wounded Sky” all demonstrate that the new album will be something to cherish, but in the meantime the uninitiated among us surely deserve a more-than-perfunctory performance from the girl who has all grown up.

[also head-lining the same gig - ed]

Frustratingly, Cutaways, the new name for The Bete Noires are a band of two halves. They’ve clearly learnt their lessons and have returned with something that you can put your finger on, stylistically speaking, however tonight’s live delivery lacks consistent confidence, leaving a less-than-half-full Limelight wondering if they’re reaching too far.

-UM-

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