UTS review-Xpress mag (Australia)

[Livia]

http://www.xpressmag.com.au/archives...ay_bucking.php

Back in 1974, Lindsay Buckingham (along with Stevie Nicks) rescued Fleetwood Mac from years in the doldrums, transforming the erstwhile blues outfit into one of the biggest-selling AOR bands the world has ever seen.

These days, the increasingly eccentric Mac guitarist keeps a relevantly low profile, aside from frequently leaving, then rejoining the band that made him famous. Fourteen years after his last solo effort, Buckingham has finally broken his lengthy silence with the offbeat pop of Under The Skin. A far cry from 1992’s Out Of The Cradle, he plays almost all the instruments himself on this stripped-back, mainly acoustic offering. ‘Reading the paper, saw a review, said I was a visionary but nobody knew’, sings the self-aware Buckingham in an unusual raspy tone on the opening Not Too Late.

His deft fingerpicking style is almost as alluring as the sun-drenched melodies, though for the most part, Under The Skin remains appropriately sparse. A few cover versions get the minimalist make over, including the obscure Rolling Stones’ album track, I Am Waiting, and Donovan’s 1965 folky ballad, To Try For The Sun.

The delicate melodies may take a few spins before they fully sink in, but Buckingham’s contemporary acoustic effort is further proof of the aging Mac guitarist going his own way.

_ROBERT PENNEY