On first listen, Carte Blanche's debut release Summer's End seemed to be little more than a collection of silly love songs. But I liked it enough to listen to again…and then again…then again…then…

So why did these songs turn out to be more than just silly love songs? Perhaps because that as a real-life couple, Richard Cranch and Dana Kruse (who comprise Carte Blanche) know that relationships are not just about telling someone how much you love them. They are also about making mistakes, about happiness and sadness, about laughing and crying, about failing and making up and just about life in general. The result is a collection of songs that feel truly heart-felt. Summer's End  opens with "I'll take a chance", that features a hypnotic acoustic guitar and melody very reminiscent of Simon and Garfunkel's "America", but with Richard setting the CD's lyrical tone, singing "I'll take a chance on love" while at the same time confessing "Not sure I like you, but… the feeling gets stronger each day." On several of the other tracks, including the 70's-esque 'Lucky', as well as 'Don't forget love' and 'Everyone around' (on which Dana sings lead) Carte Blanche remind me most of The Sundays. But the stand-out track for me is "Today I'm crying", where Richard reflects on his sadness surrounding "…all the things going on between me and you" and saying "…just this once I think I'll just sit tight." What makes "Today I'm crying" such a great song is the lovely yet sad guitar riff upon which it is built. While sounding somewhat reminiscent of REM at their jangly best, it struck me how much this song also reminded me of Coldplay. This bothered me a little at first since Coldplay are so jaw-droppingly mediocre — but what makes this song so much better is that Carte Blanche actually sound like they mean it.

Finally, on the concluding title track, it's Richard and Dana, fittingly singing together, who best sum up what this CD is all about, saying "when we look back, what a story it will be". "Summer's End" is (hopefully) chapter one in that story…