Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
To be led by either the brain or the heart into any situation is one that requires much internal debate, it is one or the other and usually of the situation goes wrong it can be damaging to the person’s belief in that organ and the trust in decision making can be shattered.
Like tossing a coin to decide whether you go left or right at a junction, putting so much faith in one thing can be a person’s undoing and yet as Naomi Campbell shows and highlights with honour in her new E.P., being guided by the heart is no bad thing.
Led By My Heart is an E.P. of strength, of true aspiring femininity and one that touches upon the very basic principles of allowing emotion the space in which to conquer cold logic and the deceit that so called reason can bring; it might keep you safe but it won’t allow you to grow as a person or to feel as though love is above all humanity’s greatest ever achievement.
To be allowed access in to someone’s emotions, to hear the sometimes muted thoughts made real and the moments of panic, joy, anger and calm that are sometimes unseen on the naked surface of a serene face is to be given the greatest privilege of them all; a privilege that must not be taken lightly or with conceit. For Naomi Campbell in the four songs that make up the E.P. the heart does not lead, it allows itself to be taken on a journey at the same time, a journey into which a young woman’s musings are paramount and sincere and deserve respect for each note placed between the very catchy lyrics.
Whether in the frame of Bye Bye Devil, Hey Lynzi, The City Life or the E.P.’s title track, Ms. Campbell sticks hard and fast to the appropriate feelings she wishes to convey and impart a semblance of truth to the listener too, a truth of her own and not forced down hers or the listener’s throats by words intended to confuse or appease the vanity into which all sit once in a while; it is the truth that is sometimes obscured by illusion and one in which has no part in life.
For Ms. Campbell’s fans, this is a set of songs that are full of quality and reason; Led By My Heart is perhaps a wish we could all aspire to at times.
Ian D. Hall