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Indie and Americana have spawned two interesting strains of music in recent years. One school is the Eliott Smith, Sufjan Stevens and Jose Gonzales fragile acoustic wanderings that stretch back to the likes of Nick Drake. Their sound is light and emotionally driven but it doesn’t have a depth or generate a great level of connection to these ears.

The other side of the coin is the Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Bon Iver and Bill Callahan school of beard-folk. Here the rawness seems to sit closer to the surface and the feelings translate with more intensity.

William Fitzsimmons sits firmly in the first camp with this album of bruised romance, tragedy and renewal. Its not a positive album by any means. Just look at the song titles – ‘I Don’t Feel It Anymore’, ‘You Still Hurt Me’ and ‘Please Forgive Me’. You can tell he is genuine in his musings but the overriding reaction is that it is all a little too earnest and confessional to really resonate with the listener.  There is darkness in the words but too often the music is sweet and delicate and all too unforgettable.

Fitzsimmons story is a fascinating one. He is the youngest child to blind parents and was set to follow a career in mental health before he began to indulge his songwriting and recorded his debut album at home.

Many will like this album for its quiet grace and harmless drift but that is where it unfortunately fails. It is too nice and seems perfect to soundtrack the inane television of the likes of Greys Anatomy due to its grey blandness.

The Sparrow And The Crow is out now on Mercer St Records and Inertia.