Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Of late it has seemed that if you are an artist of any creed, background or learning, it is possible that you will have had the seemingly inevitable rounds of criticism suggesting you should stay out of politics; that your sole function is to entertain and not have an opinion. It seems incongruous that an artist who perhaps might be able to be able to demonstrate a reasoned debate should be told to keep out of something, to be quiet and demure like some post Georgian debutant at her first outing.

The Winds of Change have though rattled round social media and no longer can anybody be truly be expected to take a back seat, unless they truly wish too, and they certainly have the right to be worried for the future of our species and of our planet.

Debbie Bond has stepped out from behind the velvet curtains of the album release and places a surprising single before her fans eyes, one that is defiantly political and one that really exemplifies the gorgeous nature of her vocals and of the craft that sits discreetly behind it.

Co-written with Rick Asherson, the song is the very best of the bountiful Blues, it has the right frame of mind to not only pierce the resolve of any who dare suggest that a single is not the avenue or the place for Blues to reign, but it also plucks gently on the once hardened heart strings, each delicate note, each rise in the tempo of Ms. Bond’s voice, sees yet another crushing defeat for the naysayers and those who don’t have the foresight to howl at the injustice of the political world we have strapped ourselves into.

Winds of Change is dynamic, fulsome and resides in the very best of the tradition of protest, Blues after all has not changed in that respect, so why should someone keep quiet when the world is teetering on the edge of irreversible change.

Ian D. Hall