Pol Nicholson has been busy. Unmistakeably Scottish, the singer/songwriter and guitarist is based in Queenstown, fronting rock group Freefall, party band Mojo and punk group Silkworm, as well as creating this debut solo album. Nicholson wrote, arranged and produced all the tracks – his finger-picked guitar and gentle voice the dominant instruments. Embellished with the saxophone of Nigel Hirst, Mark Wilson on piano and Sam Beach on drums, this acoustic-based soft pop album is middle of the road in terms of production, sound and style. Easy on the ear, it glides over the listener without leaving a lasting impression.

While the melodies on Kept Horizons and Oh, Confrontational Self are pretty, the lyrics are predictable and the production plain. Opening track (Learn To) Let Go has something different, a saxophone break that takes the song back into retro 1980s AOR pop-rock. The title track, In Motion and Free Fall all clip along charmingly, with but overall there’s little here to excite newcomers to Nicholson’s music.