Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
When you run out of avenues to go down, the only sensible solution is to go Back To The Start and enjoy the initial rush of determined expectancy and play music as if it’s for the first time.
In many a way, that can happen every day when you open your heart to straying beyond the self imposed lines that forever increase as time inexplicably and honestly marches on, none so much more than when a music lover comes across the delightful freshness that comes with a debut album.
For Midland based Blues rising star Rebecca Downes, Back To The Start is the culmination of a trek, a walk into the unknown which has borne enjoyable fruit with ten songs, co–written with Steve Birkett, that really underline the current and overwhelming value of the return of the great British female Blues artists.
Where Rebecca Downes has an arguable advantage, like Joanne Shaw Taylor before her, is that the Birmingham area is filled to the brim with a passionate history of Blues, and the steady influence of Jazz overtones that ride across the album like a thoroughbred heavy horse majestically transporting an inquisitive litter of new born kittens across the boggiest field, are safely gathered together in what is a very good, very personal, album.
Power is nothing without control, you wouldn’t put a five year old child in a pair of skis and push them down a long dry slope without at least giving them many lessons first; you wouldn’t release an album which stirs memories of some of the greats of the past without knowing the vocalist in question could handle the pressure. In tracks such as the solid opener Messed Up, the gracious but naughty inducing When I’m Bad, Laughter From Her Room, the lead song Basement Of My Heart and the killer finish that comes hurtling along in the form Little Girl, Ms. Downes’ enthusiasm and honest love for her music is infectious and more than a little tantalising.
When avenues become closed off, retrace your steps and run again, but this time with more fever and more love than the first time.
Rebecca Downes’ Back To The Start is released on February 9th via Real2Reel Records.
Ian D. Hall