Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

If Sometimes is an occasion, an instance in Time to celebrate, then to find yourself nestling amongst the Seasons is to consider yourself privileged. It is a privilege that has been waiting and yearning to break free and for Derek King, it is a chance to raise the flag of his work even higher than many would ever dare to dream possible.

Seasons carries on from where Sometimes left off, a selection of songs written from the heart and performed with grace and sincerity in the soul. Seasons may come and go, they love and despair they sometimes wreck in equal measure is a testament to humanity’s love for change, for the abiding spirit in nature that tags alongside on the journey with a keen interest. It is in that interest, in that seductive taste of guitar that Derek King does with just the merest slip of a well blessed finger that makes the journey, if not complete, then by far, the most remarkable path offered.

Seduction is a long lost art, it implies unreasonable behaviour and yet when a guitar does it, when a note is joined in union by a word or sentence, it is the most gratifying moment. Union between performer and listener should not be underestimated, like the power of autumn to move a person to find contemplation and reflection, and spring can harness the search for love, so too does the right combination of images conjured up in the gravel tones of experience profess yearning for a type of sanctuary, be it physical or natural, it is the hiding hole that must be crawled out of.

In songs such as Better, Across the Strings, the sublime Summer Breeze and Faith and Belief, Derek King marks out the seasons of the mind and the soul as being a powerful force for good, of change and noble exchange. It is with huge and bountiful respect that the listener will find themselves in the company of Derek King’s latest album and whilst the seasons come and go with ever increasing regularity as you get older, Seasons is a time to reflect on the joy that come from this world.

Ian D. Hall