Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The artist is not to be trusted if they don’t listen to the stories that other people tell them, that if they are too wrapped up in their own words and thoughts, then they should be not ignored but at least scolded for their actions. The artist, the harbour of secrets and the keeper of the clandestine, eventually will sing of the tales and make them breathe and one of the finest of these, Anne McCue, is always on the verge of shepherding the story in the right direction and aiming for that distinction of Blue Sky Thinking.

It is the sound of a woman who is able to withstand the weathering storm, who can understand just what the point of being able to listen to the heart, the mind and other people’s own purpose and nightmares can be like, then that experience is one to seek out with a sort of vengeance, a musical reprisal in which retaliation is very much a feminine achievement and one that leaves bruises, adored and passionate, all over the spirit.

Anne McCue delves deep, the passion runs over the edge as if poured liquid finds its way over the thickest of glass lips, and it is evident from the very start of the album, as the act of revenge is formed and given the urge to breathe. To exact revenge it is said is make sure you dig two graves and it is a line delivered with almost comic effect as Blue Sky Thinking takes the turn often never afforded the musician, the chance to lighten the mood with a song about death.

The album retains that relationship, the blues of humanity, the cracked relationship between the genders and between a person’s own inner demons, the psyche that drives many to write down the thoughts many would shy away from. By doing so, Anne McCue has released an album that is not only enjoyable, full of glorious musical mischief but also one that is honest to herself and her venture.

With the tracks Things You Left Out In The Rain, Spring Cleaning In The Wintertime, It Wasn’t Even Fun Whilst It Lasted, Cowgirl Blues and Devil In The Middle, Anne McCue offers sincerity and the touch of madness that everybody should achieve in their art, one coupled with having listened out for the spark that creates a revolution.

Ian D. Hall