Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Four tracks in to her debut album, Natalie McCool asks in an intense and mesmerizing way, “Have you ever played with fire?” The answer may very possibly be yes, human nature is all about reaching for the unattainable and the desirable, no matter the cost to our soul and sanity. However Natalie McCool doesn’t just play with the fire, she supplies it, stokes the furnace till it gets so hot it positively blows and all the while she does it with every ounce of her being throughout this astonishingly superb album.

Although there will be many that make references to the lyrical precision and prose of the likes of Tori Amos and Sandi Thom, Natalie is very much her own woman, her music is infectious and gratifying and unabashed. Throughout the album, the splendid demeanour in which she plays her guitar shines like a beacon, her voice radiates warmth and a certain angry, beautiful melancholy and when combined with the other musicians provides an album that is just insatiable magic.

Some of the songs have appeared on various E.P.s over time but now as she honed and perfected her style, these tracks frame the recording perfectly. For anybody who has had the pleasure of seeing her work up close as she performs at gigs or in a radio studio will know that the enormous hard work she puts in is a verification, a valid reason to let the music wash over you like a gentle wave before the strong undercurrent takes you calmly by the hand and leads you deeper and deeper until the intoxication of it all overwhelms the listener.

Tracks such as the opener America, the stirring On Fire, the stunning Dust and Coal and the patient critical demands of Size Zero are bold, unrepentant and a real pleasure to listen to and are surrounded by some outstanding works throughout.

A dream of a debut album and one that will surely garner her bigger audiences and radio play she undoubtedly deserves.

Ian D. Hall