Album Review: Shifting Sands - Beach Coma

The transformation of SixFtHick’s Geoff Corbett from crazed rocker to demented lounge crooner continues unabated with Shifting Sands’ debut, a robust collection of dark noir anthems perfect for post-midnight rumination and reflection.

Partner-in-crime Dylan McCormack (who also moonlights with Gentle Ben) sets the tone wonderfully with perfectly restrained musical beds, but it’s Corbett’s whisky-soaked vocals and occasionally bleak worldview which on strong tracks like Boyfriend, Other Girls, New Flame and Didn’t I? bring a gravitas reminiscent of greats such as Hazlewood, Dulli and Lanegan. Far more than a mere side-project.