Music from the yesterdays and today!

This is the fourth album by the band and takes a step further on from 'A Farewell To Fair-weather' in reinforcing the sound that they make together. The music once again is primarily acoustic driven, but as before has varied and interesting instrumentation and always manages to pile on the drama and power when required.  The ever present sound of the vibraphone is a distinctive trademark of the band and it's fulsome use throughout the album is both carefully thought out within each songs arrangement and also is just a very pleasing instrument to listen to when played in the way that Jenn Hendrix does.

'Scared of Love' is a wonderful composition that begs to be listened to again and again, 'Go Back To Sleep' is not far behind either and is one that starts in a quiet melodic mode and builds beautifully with some really crunchy guitar to provide the crescendo. All of the songs are worthy of similar praise as there isn't a dud track on the album. The whole set is superbly recorded and meticulously arranged, but this conciseness and transparency help to get the delicate, but at the same time powerful sound across to the listener.

The band's influences have been stated elsewhere, but by this fourth outing I think that saying that they sound similar to any of these peers is something of a waste of time because aligning Glowfriends sound with someone elses would detract from the progress that the band have made towards defining their sound and carving their own niche. To Have and to Hold is an immensely satisfying album to listen to and is ample evidence that this band is going from strength to strength.

Reviewed by Kevin Wallbank
08/21/09