SINGLE REVIEW: JOE MARTIN - STRANGERS TO LOVERS - CAN'T PROMISE YOU THE WORLD

Released in such a low key manner that many of his loyal supporters may have missed them are a brace of singles from Joe Martin. There is little in the way of instrumentation on either of these, and they are really just little palette cleansers before Joe's next album but don't be fooled into thinking that you are getting anything less than grade A quality.

Starting with the upbeat sounding "Strangers To Lovers", composed with Nashville's VInnie Paolizzi the opening verse is a "Sliding Doors" style retelling of how two strangers could come together. First from Joe's viewpoint

"Could've stayed in, gone left instead of right

Done a thousand things,

Instead of meeting you that night"

Then from the opposite direction

"Could've called a friend

You could've called it quits

You could've walked home before midnight hit

But you didn't"

The skill that both of these writers possess is their observational prowess matched to a neat turn of phrase. so the actual meeting is beautifully captured

"It happened in a minute and you almost passed me by

I was holding the door and you threw me a smile

Lifes twists and turns left us where we began

We went from Strangers to Lovers, now we're strangers again"

With a simple flick of the pen that final line pulls the rug from beneath the listener and the mood changes entirely. The tiniest details seem to make the whole thing vividly real.

"It can change so damn fast

Our future plans became the past

What I miss the most, don't sound like much

But it's calling your number and you picking up,"

The second visit to the chorus sees the span of time change

"It only took an hour of an ordinary night

For you to steal my heart without even trying"

The playing with time continues - it's a small conceit but it is what makes this song work so beautifully

"It took about a year to know it wasn't right

Didn't want to change, you didn't want to fight"

Perfectly delivered, this is a little gem, that if you missed it is well worth catching up on.

If the first single tells of a relationship that burned brightly and eventually faded, "Can't Promise You The World" sees things at a much more formative stage. Set to a fast picked acoustic guitar, this is pitching a long distance proposal.

"Don't know if it's for better of for worse

That i could have you if I only had the nerve

Drop everything, jump on a plane

But that's not how real life works

And I think of all the things I'm gonna say

When I finally see you in the flesh again

Words won't be enough - I just want to feel your touch"

It's endearingly sweet as is the pitch

"If I could you know I would - but I can't promise you the world

I can promise you mine, if you take it and be my girl

I'd make a deal with the universe, just to be with you tonight"

There's a sense of naive optimism running through most of the song that is so endearing but just in a line or two the prospect of things not working out crops up, yet it is handled in the most sensitive of ways

"And if our paths should never cross again

I hope this song will find you in the end"

A pair of singles from the UK's finest troubadour - if they slipped past you as they did us, please go back and check them out.