In Your Eyes

Description

In Your Eyes is the debut album by the British folk-pop trio Nutshell featuring Paul Field, released on Myrrh Records in 1975, a division of Word. The album was produced by Gordon Miller. All songs written by Paul Field.

Nutshell was a British folk group whose music revolved around the song writing talents of Paul Field. The band was originally called Jesus Revolution, but they had changed the name by the time of their first release. The original members were Paul Field, Heather Barlow (Bennett) and Pam May (Thiele), who stayed together for two albums (Barlow and May then left and were replaced by Annie McCaig and Mo McCafferty on the last two albums by Nutshell).

The UK trio Nutshell’s original line-up was Paul Field (guitar, piano), Pam May (autoharp) and Heather Barlow (guitar). They’ve earned a few comparisons to 2nd Chapter of Acts, over the years, mainly because of their vocal harmonies, although musically their style tends to be folkier, a bit “sweeter” and (obviously) more British sounding. Their debut album wasn’t co-released in the US, but it just so happens to be their best. Although their later albums sometimes walked a fine line between “charming” and “sugary”, I don’t sense any of that here. Most of In Your Eyes has a gentle acoustic atmosphere – delicate stirring songs like «Snowball», «Heaven Only Knows», «Jesus Is Forever», «Black Notes White» and the title track are all shining examples of UK folk. Significantly heavier are «Stony Ground» and «Most Unusual Love» (both are well-lined with fuzz guitar), while the synth-backed «Living Joy» provides an unexpected fast-paced guitar rocker. Flute and harp also make appearances, plus there’s light string orchestration on a few songs. All twelve titles written by Field. [Ken Scott, The Archivist, 4th edition]

LP tracklist:

Side One
A1. “Snowball” – 3:21
A2. “Heaven Only Knows” – 2:10
A3. “Tell Me That The Sun Will Shine Again” – 3:13
A4. “In Your Eyes” – 4:02
A5. “Jesus Is Forever” (Seagull Song) – 4:10
A6. “Stony Ground” – 4:59

Side Two
B1. “Butterfly” – 2:39
B2. “Most Unusual Love” – 3:06
B3. “Today” – 3:10
B4. “Living Joy” – 3:08
B5. “Black Notes White” – 3:53
B6. “Redeemed” – 3:35

Note: Available at Paul Field’s Bandcamp website: https://paulfield.bandcamp.com/album/in-your-eyes

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CREDITS. Produced by Gordon Miller.

Musicians: Paul Field (Vocals, Guitar, Piano), Heather Barlow (Vocals, Guitar), Pam May (Vocals, Autoharp), Andrew Lane (Flute), Frances Kelly (Harp), Mo Witham (Guitar), Lionel Browne (Bass), Gordon Miller (Drums, ARP Synthesizer).