Album Review: Tim Hart - Milling The Wind

As if being a drummer in the hugely successful band Boy & Bear wasn't enough, Tim Hart has taken a side step to release his debut solo album, Milling The Wind. Hart's style isn't falling too far from the musical tree, focusing on producing some beautifully simple folk music played on acoustic guitar and banjo with a sprinkling of flute.

Recorded in just two weeks with Mark Myers, multi-instrumentalist and producer with ex-Townsville outfit The Middle East, the 12-track album includes cameos from Boy & Bear frontman Dave Hosking, bass player Jake Tarasenko and The Middle East's Jordan Ireland.

Opener, Architects, sets the scene for the rest of the album with typical folk-style finger-picking, soft vocals and beautiful violin that tells the story of the perils of guns but in a gentle, mild-mannered way.

Darker, more melancholic tracks like So Come The Rain and White Man/Our Share Of Deceiving display a haunting side to Hart's voice that is undeniably moving and show a real depth of character. Borrowed & Vacant breaks up the guitar-heavy album with a solemn piano ballad about the regretful knowledge that a relationship is coming to an end. Hart laments: “I'm empty and rotten/Silent as a ghost town forgotten.”

As you would expect, there are a number of tracks that could easily sit on a down-tempo Boy & Bear album, such as the delightful Cover Of Your Code, which features the trademark banjo sounds that have become so associated with the band.

Milling The Wind is a triumphant first solo outing for Hart and his beautifully crafted music that is the perfect soundtrack to any Sunday afternoon.