In the best troubador tradition, Allan James has been around a bit. At 15 he’d left his native US and moved to Iceland, where he ended up having his own guitar show on TV.
Back in the States to embark on a recording career, he settled in Washington DC and founded a band, Arc Of Light, before eventually electing to go solo. Northern Virginia is James’ current locale, his home studio offering a perfect base from which to write, produce and play everything on Doors To Somewhere, his first international release. He’s clearly a talented multi-instrumentalist, though while the songs are tastefully arranged and ably crafted, they ultimately lack any real sticking power. Soft electro-acoustics are the order of the day, folded into slightly mystical, midtempo songs about taking long journeys, presumably to find some deeper inner truths. Cue hackneyed lyrics about hearts being wrapped in chains and the like, James seemingly intent on straining to say something profound without ever quite getting there. It’s a shame, because there are occasional glimpses into what might’ve been, particularly the David Gilmour-ish title track, coloured with restrained piano and a gliding guitar solo.
