Anthony Cunningham at the Bluecoat, Liverpool. September 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

It’s when you hear a song being taken to its vocal extremes that you realise just how good someone is and you that you find yourself making a note in your diary to check out when the possibility of catching them again will arise; it is at that moment when art in any of its forms speaks out to you.

Anthony Cunningham has been making sincere waves and it is with little wonder that he made his Above The Beaten Track debut in amongst such auspicious company and whilst only having a few tracks in which to endear himself to the crowd assembled in the Sandon Room of the Bluecoat, his purposeful gaze and excellent demeanour marked him out as one to cheer on as loudly as possible. It was a cheer that by the end you couldn’t but help do as loudly as possible.

To hear someone take their voice to a pitch which could not only shatter glass but would have a seller of such goblets and flutes wring their hands in avarice filled glee at the extra custom coming their way, is something that still causes breathe to be held within the audience setting and a fine unheard whistle of appreciation to follow. It is the remarkable feat of vocal strength that really drives home just how good Anthony Cunningham is; and whilst the set may have only been three songs long, it was three songs that caught the imagination and made the day even more intensely cool that could have been thought of as the sun rose over the Mersey that morning.

The three songs, Pocket Change, Best For You and Winter Breeze all sung with a resounding passion and as with anything in life, the more the passion shows, the more beauty can be found within. This is that passion taken out and enjoyed by all who heard him inside the four walls of the Sandon Room, this was beauty personified and whilst the set was short, there was no putting the Genie back into the broken glass bottle afterwards, the best you could do for that now homeless sprite was to give him to Anthony Cunningham, for this is a young man who now should have his fine voice and lyrical composure looked after by any means possible.

A set of beauty and passion wrapped in the vocals of a precious young talent, it is a talent that needs to be held close in the arms of Liverpool’s music lovers.

Ian D. Hall