There is a magnificent intrinsic beauty to Xavier Rudd's music. Taking the stage, often barefoot, flashing a contagious grin, Rudd totally captivates audiences time and time again with his uniquely warm, powerful music.

The influence of reggae, folk, soul and roots styles are evident in his music - Xavier combines harmonicas, acoustic slide and 12 string conventional guitars, banjo's, slit/Aztec drums, didgeridoo's and the djembe with earnest, soothing vocals.

The follow up to his critically acclaimed debut album To Let, Solace consists entirely of live performances, capturing the emotion and energy of his shows, as well as demonstrating his raw, undeniable talent. These performances were produced in a home studio in Vancouver by Xavier and producer Tomm Simko.

Tracks on this album range from uniquely infectious jingles (The Journey Song) to collaborations (human beat-box radio active at The Street Scene Festival, San Diego-Yirra-Curl) to covers (Bob Marley's No Woman No Cry).

It would be inaccurate to say that an album this good contains any 'highlights'; although there are a few which standout for this writer; including Partnership, an enchanting five minute melody that slips by as if it were only one, and Silence, another beautiful, although slightly more upbeat composition. These two songs in particular demonstrate Xavier's inept skill with both conventional and slide guitars. The single, Let Me Be is an inimitable, yet magnificently simple piece which can only come forth from one with immense talent. A 4th World begins with a very mellow introduction, before developing into a powerful piece driven by Xavier's bare foot on the stomp box, and closes with a captivating didgeridoo/guitar coda.

These songs are impressive enough, until you remember that he played all instruments by himself (with a few contributions in the form of vocal harmonies, and various percussion additions), and then it almost becomes too much to fathom. The fact of the matter is, someone with this much talent deserves the recognition, and that anyone with an appreciation of music in general, let alone roots music should forgo all manner of luxuries to purchase this CD.