Lost & Found

Nick Beggs has a career extending back to the high point of early 80s New Romantic pop, and the band Kajagoogoo, which had a number one hit with ‘Too Shy’ in 1983. Since then he's been in a range of bands, including a reformed Kajagoogoo, and played on various albums including those of ex-Spice Girl Emma Bunton and fellow 1980s pop star Howard Jones, joining prog folk band Iona and, more recently, prog rock trio The Mute Gods.

On Lost & Found, he is joined by exemplary guitarists Paul Harvey and Robin Boult, who co-wrote the songs with Beggs. It's a melodically catchy set of reflective singer-songwriter pieces that sometimes delve deep – the opening ‘Hold onto Summer’ has a winning sing-along quality, the guitar's strum easing into acoustic pop catchiness, while the more wintry, buckling ‘The Rogue's Return’ is a narrative and character-driven song addressing dark sources of trauma. To follow, the sunnier nostalgia of ‘Back Down the Lane’ finds and spins out the kind of tune that rolls over any kind of discord. A reverie of late-night introspection elevates the title track, while ‘If I Could Write a Song’ is catchy and charming, as well as a rather canny insight into the craft of song itself.