Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The universe may have many rules, many regulations set down in the hope that karma finds a way to balance out those who deserve to have their story, not just listened to but repeated and reiterated and those to whom the story is just that, a tale of the wind blowing with such force that the light it carries, flickers and snuffs itself out before it has had chance to be seen.
Steel Threads’ The Rule of Three is a near perfect example of an album in which the wind has no chance of ever blowing apart, that the songs carried within in the beautiful carnage, the tracks sown into the whirlwind, not only survive the rapid rise but flourish with style, not for them the brief glimmer of karmic strength, this is an album that pulses with life and one that really gets underneath the skin.
The Rule of Three, the sound of the mystic vibrations wrapped up in two wonderfully played violins, growling but distinct vocals and a bass and drum that are not just in time together but are so involved, so passionate, that its surprising that wedding vows were not announced by each deep and powerful beat. The three artists, Neil Wardleworth, Laura Wilcockson and Tracey Beardmore take providence by the hand and deliver the tracks with such vibrancy, such magnetic emotion that the day feels complete upon having had the good fortune to be part of the design; the thought that you always hope will come from the musicians that they are not just doing it for themselves but for the listener as well.
Whilst every band intentionally offers this, foolish it would be not to, at times it can come across as arrogance that the two way street of musical participation is in fact blocked off, that the co-operation is in fact a cul-de-sac, a blind alley full of obstructions and the odd knocked over dustbin. Tracks such as Made You This Way, the excellent Over Before You Begun, Always Nearly There and the powerfully beguiling At The Start Again have the all the drive in which to feel energised after the Winter feasts and have all desire to set a chain reaction of heat and strength igniting the Summer indulgences.
The Rule of Three, sometimes karma leads you where it must.
Ian D. Hall