Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Being away from home does not stop people caring about you, it does not mean that you are able to shrink in stature or let the light of the song ever diminish; for by doing so, the light fades and allows darkness to fill the void. It is darkness that never once pokes its head above the trenches as far as the beautiful voice and song writing of Esme Bridie is concerned.

The trenches, the battleground and safe harbour of any war, is littered with the souls who find themselves coming back to their natural habitat, their home only to find that Time has eroded, chewed off little pieces of any contact made over the years and yet whilst Esme Bridie has been plying her trade in the county of Yorkshire, the voice has not lost a single ounce of pleasure. It was a pleasure that was doubled as she opened the proceedings on Strings and Things fourth birthday with a set in which the voice soared and the internal splendour of the young performer shone through.

Pleasure, that infernal machine in which too many believe is a right, an experience which costs the vast majority of a week’s wages to obtain, in which the many flock to the long since croaky voiced but to whom won’t obtain a ticket to hear the next ticket play, they are the ones missing out and surely as aching men’s feet grumble in the darkness, they are missing out big style when it comes to Esme Bridie.

Floating through the eerily still night that had descended upon Liverpool’s side streets, those who had made their way to Parr Street to watch Ms. Bridie were treated to songs such as a haunting cover of Leonard Cohen’s Bird On The Wire, the sublime Quite Unrequited, What You Had Yesterday, Only Lonely People and Only Young; it was a set that set the evening alight, no need for the rambunctious, this was cosmic vibe caught in the voice of a young and very talented woman.

With her new E.P. not long been released, the point of Only Young was perfectly entertained and framed by the performer and as the stillness in the air was kept at bay outside of Studio 2, those in the crowd could surely only wish to be only young forever, for in such age comes arguably greater joy than anything.

A welcome return to her natural stomping ground, Esme Bridie leapt straight back into the hearts of audience.

Ian D. Hall