David Ward

Nostalgia is a thing of the past they joke, but in music it is something that naturally flows through almost every musician. There is always a reference point for someone's sound - and that often comes from a loving reflection of something or someone that captured their imagination at a younger age. Here, Canadian David Ward tips his nostalgia hat to the era of vinyl, with a short album split into two distinctive halves.

The follow up to 2012's The Arrival, a trilogy of EPs, Golden Future Time opens with an ambient and soulful mood before 'side B' begins with the Off The Wall-era Michael Jackson groove of the title track. The second half continues in the same way, with the delightfully restful Bird In The Hand and the 80s sounding Fly, with its intense bass and fizzing synths under a George Michael-like vocal.

The tunes here are stronger and more simple than the opening set, with Ward's vocal and soothing. He has an impressive vocal range and is far more tender on 'side A's closer Be Here, which will draw more comparisons to Stevie Wonder. The opening two tracks Slowly Through The Night and Lost are very different though, with a more experimental feel, featuring touches of prog-rock splattered about the random rhythms. Radiohead or Pink Floyd it is not though, and Ward is better when he keeps it simple. But criticism is harsh when this is someone finding something interesting amongst some not always fashionable sounds of the 80s.