Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Memories are stirred with equal measure when hearing a album recorded live; passion, regret, the mourning of a long forgotten time and person who shared a moment with you, the extremes of life which culminate in a series of vivid, fleeting recollections and stark reminisce. For the former voice of Runrig and very much his own man, Donnie Munro, memories must surely be held out as if living the moment again and again whilst always striving ever onward, a Sweet Surrender, both to the past and the endless possibilities the future provides.
Sweet Surrender- Live Acoustic is the fourth such foray into the release of a live solo album but it is arguably the one in which his unique soft, sweet voice comes across as one of the true expressions of Scottish thought and stirring realism.
It might be considered by many as a far call from the days in which 50,000 people heard him perform by the banks of Loch Lomond, the sound being carried in thought in spirit, if not in actual deed, long after the instruments had been put away and the music dying down as the night closed in on the lapping gentle waters. However, Sweet Surrender-Live Acoustic is much more than that old reflective image of a time long gone.
The album is one in which the music is more attuned to the contemplative and respective, a serenity of spirit in which, whilst alluding to the relinquishing of arms and the battle withdrawn, is but a subtly of regrouping, recharging and reorder; it is a yielding but only for as long as the audience believes it be. For the strength in the performance is one that asks nothing but that belief to transmitted back and remind the fans that being docile is not an option in a world on the verge of change.
Music from his long and distinguished career is stamped throughout the double album and in songs such as Protect and Survive, Chi Min Geamradh, Heart of America, Leaving Lerwick Harbour, Irene, the superb Mother Glasgow, The Wire and Mo Chruinneag Bhooidheach, Donnie Munro sends out that message of resistance with a firm hand, the gentle voice and the reflective image of Time is one to grasp firmly and without surrender.
Ian D. Hall