Many years ago - sometime in the mid-nineties – there was for two years an event called the Bay Music Awards.

It was a great idea and one that is well deserving of being revived at some point. It did require fanatically organised organisers and I must confess I can't now remember who did it back then. Whoever it was it took a helluva lot of work; the whole thing was of course a labour of love.

A couple of things stick in my mind. One was talking to a judge on the night, Richard Thorne from New Zealand Musician, who said that he was surprised how middle-of-the-road most of the music was. I was kinda offended by that but, when I look at the albums released here in the last little while, I do see his point.

Tauranga is a fairly conservative place. If you choose to make music here it is probably fairly conservative music. If this weren't the case you would likely go and make music somewhere else because if you were pursuing the extremes of the avant-garde you'd be pretty lonely in Tauranga. Which isn't to say that someone from Bethlehem could never make a left-field album of extreme weirdness, it's just that such an event is more likely if you come from a place where everyone is making that sort of music.

In Tauranga we, it seems, are more comfortable making fairly safe genre music (and I don't mean that as a criticism – there is nothing avant-garde about Bob Dylan's new album yet it still remains exciting and challenging).

But look at the recent releases: Bonjour Swing – gypsy jazz; Deeds – classic rock with reggae touches; Leilani – MOR rock; SheJus Greedy – soul/blues; Self-Righteous Brothers – folk/blues; Brilleaux – classic English R&B; and this week's reviewed album from Colleen Gibson – easy listening.

Which brings me to another thing I remember about those awards. One year of the two, and I'm not sure which, they announced the award for Best Songwriter and it went to... Colleen Gibson.

None of us at the time had ever heard of Colleen Gibson, and that's pretty much the same today. You don't see her singing live and there is no information about her on-line. But, nearly 20 years later, she has released her first album.

Colleen Gibson – We've Got It Good

This is very much an easy listening album and, not being my preferred listening genre I kinda ignored it first time I played it. Let it run in the background, very pleasant I thought. It was only on about the third run through it that I actually listened and engaged and began to realise what a seriously accomplished piece of work this is.

Recorded at Tim Julian's Colourfield in Welcome Bay it shows yet another side to his talents as a producer and arranger as he subtly balances a host of instruments against Colleen's light and slightly breathy voice while keeping the focus on her and her songs.

First thought on hearing the first song was Astride Gilberto. It doesn't really sound like her but some of the lightness and a hint of the European reminded me. It's carried through on the next song, the very appealing title track which slips into French and benefits from the colouring of Johan Bloem's accordion and some tasteful Mike Kirk guitar.

There are occasional moves towards a larger sound – 'Right Before My Eyes' goes big with full horns and all – but the more intimate moments impress most. Colleen has a very sharp ear for melody and understands the importance of rhythm in lyrics ('Funny That' runs on a rhythmic hook), and she can craft a song with great skill.

When these things come together it is quite magical: 'Middle of a Dream' breaks down into a jazzy jam between Leo Zeldenrust's keyboard and Lewis Martin's saxophone before picking up again into a chorus with multiple vocals (Colleen does her own backing singing). Even when the extremely personal nature of 'Buried Soul' threatens to slip into the overly introspective, fine minimalist musical touches keep it focused.

The album also looks very good, just right for its sophisticated contents. For a debut album, after all these years, it's a very impressive piece of work.