Westwind - Love Is... (1970) (2021)

Love Is Review by Richie Unterberger
By the time British group Westwind's debut album Love Is came out in 1970, its kind of clean-cut, cheery pop-folk had passed out of fashion around the time the Seekers broke up a couple years previously. Listening to it several decades later, of course, it doesn't matter whether this was done in 1966 or 1970. It might be slightly twee, but it's actually pretty good, melodic stuff that does indeed strongly recall the Seekers' mid-'60s records at times in its smooth male-female harmonies. It's also similar to the Seekers in its mixture of early-'60s coffeehouse folk with more modern pop sensibilities, both in the songwriting and the production, which adds some strings and orchestration (though barely any folk-rock) to the acoustic guitar and voices. "Love Is a Funny Sort of Thing" in particular sounds like something that could have been a hit (yes, for the Seekers, not to overdo the comparison) in the mid-'60s. Some of the songs are a little weak in their innocuous, almost sugary sweet quality, which at their worst seem almost as though they might have been tailored for a children's TV show. But others are quite buoyant -- "Rosemary" and "Home Is Where My Heart Is" are other standouts -- and they do get in a more serious, dramatic mood with "Robin Hill." On the whole, there's much more quality (and, sometimes, rhythmic drive) to the songwriting, singing, and arrangements than is common in totally obscure folk albums such as this. It's recommended to fans of the Seekers and, to a lesser extent, other '60s harmonizing male-female folk combos like Peter, Paul & Mary.