Like many of you out there, I had never heard of Paul Cusick until I saw the ads on Facebook and the like, and the tone of them intrigued me enough to get a copy of the Focal Point album. And am I glad I did or what? This was one of 2009s hidden gems to be sure.

For those of you who are still unaware of Paul Cusick (or "Q"), he is a British multi-instrumentalist, formerly of bands such as Gabriel, Ripped and Riversea. A couple of years ago, he decided to "go it alone" and record a solo album. And "solo" really is the word time time, as he plays all the music himself, except for the drums which are handled by Alex Cromarty. Prog loon Andy Edwards also contributed drums to one of the tracks, Touch.

I'd say that the musical style of this album sits between "Progressive Rock" and "Alternate Rock". There are no overly long songs or complex solos here, just an excellent demonstration of songwriting. My favourites are the Porcupine Tree-ish Big Cars and Soul Words, Hold On, the emotional Touch, and final track (except for the GM remix of Touch), the atmospheric Hello.

There's plenty here to interest the fans of bands such as modern Porcupine Tree and Pink Floyd, as well as mainstream rock bands.

Check out Paul's work at www.paulcusick.co.uk