As with most biographies, this story begins with the utterances of hypnotic phrases being repeated over, and over, and over, again; ricocheting through a developing sensitive mind; with the whispering of bitter-sweet music before the age of reason. The words, the sounds and the looks that a young mind has processed cannot be erased. They can only be stored in different places. Under the influence of Steven Heller’s Monsters and Magical Sticks, the concept of Uniform Motion sees the light.

The principle is that we go through life in a continual straight line and that the trajectory we are on will never change unless something, or someone, hits us.

After years and years of selectively storing data and cruising down the highway of life (and a quick stint with Angle -We'll Pick Up the Pieces Next Time, 2006), Andrew Richards picks up an old battered guitar. Two of the strings were missing, but that’s how that guitar was meant to me, so she would stay that way.

The 4-string guitar is the backbone of this album. Multiplied, duplicated, interlaced, and dissonant – as if there were different personalities trying to jump out of it. The vocals follow the same pattern - when strummed guitar strings become strings of words, or soft utterances that give substance to a subconscious idea. The beating of African percussion can be heard in the background, emanating from an urban soundscape, evoking a primitive nature, an imaginary journey, a calm floating sensation. The guitars hold this all together.

Some may think that Rain&Soil is reminiscent of the magnetism of Midlake’s Roscoe, that the generosity of Earthly Diamond resembles that of Sufjan Stevens’ work, that the vocals point towards the softness of Iron & Wine. Some may even sense José Gon