The coming together of Newman (coincidentally named after singer, guitarist, keyboardist and producer Steve Newman) in 1997 was as a result of disillusionment felt at record company disinterest and the usual band conflicts, forcing the fella to take his destiny into his own hands. Now, numerous album releases and live appearances down the line, Newman (the band) unleash spanking new opus 'Under Southern Skies', all recorded at Newman (the man)'s own studio.

Jangly spangly guitar and '80s keyboards bellow directly into opening tune 'Killing Me', a neat, crisp production and some fine melodic passages lead towards a fair to middling set-up and the occasional glimpse of an updated approach. 'If He Loves You' builds up towards a memorable choral hook and a vocal performance that is quite pleasurable to the ear with its happy tones, but for me it's two steps forward and one step back overall.

Title track 'Under Southern Skies' needs a little bit more oomph and stance to take it into newer musical pastures. The acoustic guitar makes a warm and welcome appearance on 'Strength To Carry On' that damply explodes when you expect and hope for that killer blissful moment to lift the track up; there are some decently arranged six string breaks but unfortunately it's not enough to drag the song into the 21st century and gain some identity and originality.

Even with my Uber-shadow hanging drearily over the guys, there are musical saving graces on hand throughout that stand out, evident on 'Ghost In The Night' though 'Without Warning' has too many elements of various other artists from yesteryear to grasp and shake me into giving an only just barely above average reaction; 'She's Gone' shows pretty obvious influence immediately with the riff of a Hagar-period Van Halen amongst others. A catchy couple of hooks abound but just drift into the making of an AOR humdrum album filler and as the record continues the theme remains the same.

Melodic rock aficionados will probably add this album to their mountainous collection of Adult/Album Orientated discs, swelling the sum of its parps, doubtless of my opinions and rant about in their own ever decreasing  circles. It's so hard to criticize music that is produced, written to an admirable level such as this, but remains stuck in an 1980s-inspired rut. 'Wish You Were Here' is well structured and offers a tad of light to shine but only very briefly. 'Montserrat' brings the curtain down on 'Under Southern Skies', another heard it all before affair that plods on with no effort or expectancy and simply fades away...........

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