Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is something of a delicious pleasure in seeing a young singer/songwriter on stage just a few weeks after you saw them for the first time and knowing deep down that what you saw on stage was only half the story.

For Alexandra Jayne to open The Hope Project at The Brink in Liverpool was not only good fortune to be in attendance but the building of an honour. Like so many fledgling artists to have a voice, not just be able to sing a song and have done with it, but to have a true voice that takes guts to allow it to breath infront of others, to spread the idea of what you are trying to truly say and let the idea run; in that, no matter if she goes any further with her music, Alexandra Jayne is a musician that captivates the soul.

The Hope Project, like so many other endeavours in Liverpool which are started to get people involved in being a proper society and not just lauding the few, but to look deep into the belly of the streets and raise the kind of topic that many will naturally shy away from, in this case the one of Homelessness. The two day event has some of the great unsung talent in the city taking part, including Joe Symes and The Loving Kind, Eleanor Nelly, Benjamin Stephen Jones, John Hall and his amazing home- made guitars and of course Alexandra Jayne.

If raising awareness as well the hope for humanity that we don’t just raise the elite few up but also grab the hands of those that we have shamefully neglected then this Project is great news. For Alexandra Jayne though it was also the chance to show her support for a Liverpool charity and perform a selection of her own songs and a couple of excellent, yet brave, covers.

Perhaps unsurprisingly as it was also the celebration of International Women’s Day, the opening song of Lou Reed’s Walk On The Wild Side was not just brave but a fitting tribute to those who aspire to womanhood. The song became though wonderfully melancholic in the hands of Ms. Jayne, the slowness of the guitar playing highlighting not just her voice but the ability to change a song in such a way that it becomes something new. Too many believe a song should stay in the framework it was first designed, that is not always true, sometimes the beauty of a song is what it can transform into. For this Alexandra Jayne caught the balance between respect and the need for adventure.

With a trio of her own songs making their way into the set, Better Life, The Water and Troubadour, this was a great start to a worthy weekend. It can be heartening to see how someone progresses in just a few weeks is part of the joy of live music, of being at the start not just at the end in the big arena surrounded by thousands of like-minded fans, but at the sharp end when you are left with your thoughts and none of the commercialism that attaches itself to a big night out, both gigs are valid, one leaves you with more to understand and get to know the artist.

Ian D. Hall