Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Hearing a new song from Roxanne de Bastion is like holding hands with an old friend, there is so much warmth in that moment, so much energy to share between the art and the soul that it connects and fuses, the organs melding into one and finally let go as the love is embraced and jointly nodded at in appreciation of what brings to the other. To not get a tingle down the spine, to not enjoy the sensation is surely to suggest that you have a Heart of Stone.
Roxanne de Bastion’s power is in that moment, it surrounds and is held high as a beacon to an audience, as to many who have seen her live or caught in the sphere of radio can and would surely attest. It is the power, the shape of the lyric and the accompanying sense of ethic that makes Ms. de Bastion’s music such an enormous pleasure to hear and Heart of Stone is no different, it is a song that whilst lyrically is poetic for many to think of melancholy. It is however one that stands with definition, of shape, the touch of sadness is there but it is one driven by hope, that the world as we understand it will come and go but honesty and the endeavour to always tell the truth through music will exist.
Heart Of Stone is framed by the lightness of spirit in the music, itself a driving force, a healing factor which glides along the listener’s aural receptors like the finest skater on the thinnest of ice, gentle, fast, magnificent to watch and mind boggling on how the operation goes together; the fury that bubbles up underneath is matched by the cool exterior above and the song is always there to guide in the emotion you should be feeling.
It takes a particular skill to carry off that position of strength without it coming over as dogma and Ms. de Bastion has it down to a fine art and one that is gracious and full of flavour in both appearance and delivery. A tremendous single, Roxanne de Bastion has again shown the listener great respect in a single release.
View the song’s video at https://youtu.be/TgIbPg8JX0g.
Ian D. Hall