Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The language of the emotive and poignant will always carry something different about them than the sincere, the tender and the lyrically moved. It will carry a sense of the discrete, of the way that many are stimulated in one way or another to transfer their lives away from their birth place and the country of their origin as they clash with authorities, the dissidents and the rebels of the state; those to whom a voice is denied.

Daniel Hertzov may have found his and his families voice muted as they escaped Moscow’s fearsome rage but as they travelled and eventually found a home in Scotland’s just as equally proud heart, so too it seems did that voice make itself known and as Strawberry Moon filters through the air, Daniel Hertzov’s Resident Alien breaks down the silence that had built up and the softness of the tone, the suppleness of the voice at hand, is powerful across the three songs that make up the Strawberry Moon E.P.

It is the sense of belonging that makes people comfortable in their habitat, that those around them are there just in case the Sisyphus rock that was finally steadied upon the hill decides with a light breeze to come back down again and the process of starting over is seen as futile and vain. In that belonging Daniel Hertzov brings the sound of fitting in with the rebel’s heart still beating with justifiable pride; the self respect of a journey undertaken by relations coming to fruition with the ability to offer his own voice to the crowd.

The three songs on the E.P., Child of the City, Circle Without End and the E.P. title track blend together so well, so seamlessly that the enjoyment of the music is only tempered by the fact that it is over all too soon, that there is no discernible breaks unless you physically keep alert to the music is not a hindrance to the music lover but to the unconscionable it might prove a distraction; this is beauty of a rebellious nature, the artist will always draw you in only to shatter the illusion in the end and Daniel Hertzov does it so very well.

A wonderful E.P., centred and non conforming, Strawberry Moon is a delightful piece of unorthodox protest.

Ian D. Hall