Knowing the difficult genesis of this record (the borrowed studio time, the self-production, the first false start with a single which didn't make it) is to know the tenacity and determination which have driven Neil Murray over the past few years. his decision to carve a solo career outside of the constraints of the Warumpi Band has seen him supporting overseas acts and playing regularly in inner-city pubs.

The problem is that while Murray is a good songwriter and an adequate guitarist and singer, he is not an exceptional one. His desire to give musical expression to his deeply-held feelings about Australia (and particularly about the Australia which lies beyond the coast and cities) is admirable. Unfortunately there are no songs on this album which have the intensity and appeal of those impossibly red soils and saturated blue skies which make the outback such a breathtaking experience.

A track like "Far Away" reaches towards a feeling of the isolation and desolation of western Queensland and the Northern Territory but it is too up-tempo to achieve the resonances and the sense of the place.

With some of the other songs, Murray actually seems to sing with a flatness and lack of emotion which reflects the flatness of central Australia. This is particularly evident in the low-key vocal on "Big Truck" (a song about being a truckie) and the muted passion of "These Hands". It is only on a song like "Salty Ground", which is actually about a childhood in a dry, flat landscape, that his flat vocal style seems appropriate.

At its best, this album has a couple of good songs about Aborigines - "Broken Song" (about the dislocation of Aboriginal culture) is lyrically powerful and "Sing Your Destiny" (notable for its exceptional guitar playing and up-tempo enthusiasm) deals with the mystery of the outback and the need to experience the "dreaming".

In the end, while this is a good rock album (with a feel which canonly be described as an Aussie desert/country ambience) it lacks those indefinable, but vital, elements which would allow it to transcend the overpopulated world of male singer/songwriters.