Brother Sun Sister Moon - Chris Holland

...appearing on most of his brother Jools' last decade of albums, Christopher has also appeared on music by artists such as Jimmy Scott, Ray Davies, Sam Brown, Squeeze and other former members from that band, Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford.

Christopher released his first solo album 'Cosmic Harmony Companion' in 1999; it now seems to be quite difficult to get hold of a copy (best bet is probably on eBay or contact his website - details ...
...find as it was a limited release back in 2002, only sold at some live gigs at the time. The follow-up album, and the subject of the review here, 'Brother Sun Sister Moon' was released in 2003 and is currently available to buy (see details below). Christopher has two more recent albums 'Butterfly Effect' and 'Everything You Can Imagine Is Real'.

==Album Details==
'''Released:''' 2003
'''Record label:''' Beautiful Records
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I'd first heard about this album when I was at a live performance of Jools Holland a few years ago. I decided to check it out, listened to the music online and liked it enough to buy the CD for myself.

Christopher Holland - who is this man?

This is Jools Holland's younger brother, Christopher. He has been, and still is, a regular feature of Jools' own Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, playing the keyboards/organ and writing songs too. Christopher is a talented musician. Apart from appearing on most of his brother Jools' last decade of albums, Christopher has also appeared on music by artists such as Jimmy Scott, Ray Davies, Sam Brown, Squeeze and other former members from that band, Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford.

Christopher released his first solo album 'Cosmic Harmony Companion' in 1999; it now seems to be quite difficult to get hold of a copy (best bet is probably on eBay or contact his website - details below). His second studio album, 'Hoopatasso', is even harder to find as it was a limited release back in 2002, only sold at some live gigs at the time. The follow-up album, and the subject of the review here, 'Brother Sun Sister Moon' was released in 2003 and is currently available to buy (see details below). Christopher has two more recent albums 'Butterfly Effect' and 'Everything You Can Imagine Is Real'.

Album Details

Released: 2003
Record label: Beautiful Records
Cat. No: BT004 CD
Running Time: 51 minutes (approx.)
Musicians: Christopher Holland (Keyboards/Vocals), Ash Soan (Drums), Dave Swift (Bass), Lisa Covington (Guitars/Backing Vocals), Ron Box (Guitars) and Sam Brown (Backing Vocals). Additional music by Gilson Lavis, Mark Flanagan, Kim Lesley, Jools Holland, Roger Goslyn,, Phil Veacock, Jon Scott, Paul Bartholomew and Rico Rodriguez.

Opinion: 'Brother Sun Sister Moon' album

First of all, just in case you were wondering, most of the music on this album is not like that of Jools Holland. It has much more of a melodic pop sound compared to the rhythm & blues and 'boogie woogie' piano of his older brother. With songs such as 'Summer Girl', 'Gone With The Wind' and 'Miss U', there is a generally happy, summery feel to the music, which I enjoy. It's mellow, easy-going with some decent melodies to boot. The songs are snappy, only 'Gone With The Wind' ventures into the 4-minute territory.

A majority of the songs were written by Christopher himself, much to his credit. Former Squeeze songwriters Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook provide the music and lyrics to the track 'No Disco Kid' and the last track of the album, 'This Is The Way Forward', is based on an original idea by them for the Squeeze song, 'Short Break'. The influence of Squeeze can be found in a lot of the other music here too. Not surprising considering the family connection and previous collaborations.

I don't think that Christopher has a particularly strong singing voice, but his vocals do go well with the songs on this album. There are some guest appearances too, including an organ solo by Jools (on the track 'Long As We're Together' along with a fair few members of his R&B Orchestra too) and singer Sam Brown (on the tracks, 'Same Way Again', 'Velvet Zone', 'Love Is The Answer', and 'Lost In Space'), which is an added bonus. However, in my opinion I do think the last couple of tracks on the CD are less in keeping with the rest. Maybe that's just my taste (or lack of!). Overall, if this type of music is to your liking, I believe that it is a good album worth checking out.

Little fact

According to the sleeve notes, the verses in the last track of the album, 'This Is The Way Forward', are spoken by Derek Holland, Christopher's father.

Other details

Artist's Website: www.cosmicharmony.co.uk (Christopher Holland's Cosmic Harmony)

Thanks for reading.

© tumblewheel, 2008 

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