Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Our home is our safety net, for at least that is what it is meant to represent, the place where those around us like, love and perhaps even respect us; going out of the front door should represent a challenge, not the other way round, coming home should represent life unhindered.
Harri Endersby’s debut album is one in which the thought of native lands, the origin perhaps of where a person came from, can end up being a place so far from where conceived, the same with music, the vision, the spark of the idea, is not always where it concludes; the deviations along the way make the journey infinitely more enjoyable and yet there is always that pull of home, the place where all things must eventually pass.
Homes/Lives are inseparable, you cannot have one without the other and the music you make in one is always the tune you hum in the still or bustle of the other; it is the feeling of life that makes you want to come home and settle with a loved one, that captures the point of existence, to feel safe when the world is going to Hell.
The music provided by Harri Endersby is one of tough but beautiful imagination, it is the building block in which all relationships start, the casual glance that lingers for perhaps a bit too long, the stare which turns to an embarrassed swapping of personal details and in the end is the one you cannot live without, it is the comfortable bliss but one that has a hand ready to smack gently should anybody step out of line or between the two people.
A debut album Homes/Lives may be but it is one that has been truly well thought out and harnessed, it has freedom written through it and an eloquence of joy in the vocals which is hard to match. In tracks such as Laughter Lines, Bird & Whale, Stars Fall Down and Stay Awhile, the feeling of contentment is irresistible and is one not to be dismissed.
Our homes are important, they are our sanctuary, when it gets invaded by the damned and destructive, it is our lives that become the focal point of happiness; Harri Endersby realises that fully and gives warmth and hope that the two states can be mutual and forgiving.
Ian D. Hall