Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

It is a truth that during our life we can feel disconnected from the rest of humanity, we seek solace in the hopeful friendships that other enjoy but despite wearing our best smiles and showing the sociable appearance, the Other Side of the emotional gap seems a daunting prospect to gain entry too; it is as if standing in the freezing rain is preferable to enjoying one hour of summer. The Other Side, all that we aspire to be, to be happy, to have a voice and a say, to know that our smiles are fixed, even when the world is a desperate place which only a few can enlighten.

Brandon Wildish, a native of Orange County, a songwriter of tremendous talent and one who takes the juxtaposition of the Other Side very much to heart. The outwardly catchy songs, ones that revel in the heat of exposure and burning desire also hold the thought that somewhere inside in the magic beats a heart desperate to make people understand that irreparable harm they are causing those on the other side and the environment they are living in.

It is the greatest gesture one can afford, the knowledge of passing on wisdom to those who shrink in the face of love, even from those who sing the loneliest of songs whilst smiling and Brandon Wildish performs them with eager voice and wonderfully precise melody.

The songs, Take What You Want, Crossing The Line, Give Me Love and Other Side are genuine, warm but with regret and social calling embedded deep within its heart, it is the beauty crossed with the public and the result is one of immense pleasure and pain woven around the enjoyment of indie pop.

The lifelong journey that has come out of playing to the bewitched in modest surroundings has allowed this musician to see the ground he walks rather than be surrounded by the insanity of instant adulation, a set of songs that roam through the thoughts of the listener and ones that hopefully lead them to think of how fortunate they are on the Other Side.

Ian D. Hall