Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is a difference, perhaps not so obvious at first glance or thought, between the daylight and the Night Hours, it is one in which many who dwell in the light, who cannot see the darkness as anything but a hindrance to enjoyment and the feeling of warmth on the skin, don’t see and that is only because they don’t witness the shadows on the souls, the pain that the night can bring and the sheer excellence of the art that dwells within. It is that kind of difference that Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith bring very much to the fore in their Folk driven album Night Hours.

From the off the pair give notice just how much anger they are going to dish out, how much annoyance and fury live in their hearts but unlike some who find perhaps the rile and sense of infuriation too much to handle, Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith instead use their fantastic ability to create a story that captures the maddening resentment to some of the more insidious moments of life and instead give them a sense of harmony; this does not diminish the anger instead it gives it more credence, more subtly and faith that the insanity of such acts will be redressed and balanced.

It the symphony of attraction, the knowledge of listening to something said, a phrase sang, of honour and a truth that makes each of the tracks on the album so delightful, there is nothing that can be taken away from it, all that there is a series of honesty bombs that grow in stature each time they finally drop into the listener’s mind. In tracks such as Harvest Gypsies, The Ballad of Yorkley Court, the fabulous Mary and the Soldier and the damned history of those dispossessed of their lands and their homes in Moved On, Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith are not just retelling tales of days past, they are giving out the sage advice that this could all happen again.

A shimmering sense of rage that is harnessed in wonderful fashion and allowed to pour indefinitely and in defiance for all to hear! Night Hours is where the shadows reign and not through fear but with solidarity.

Ian D. Hall