Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

To keep your Head Down can be seen as honourable and certainly wise as the gunfire ravages and takes no prisoners; in the end, when all is laid waste, what remains is the auditory sound of the blessed and the determined, the righteous and the indomitable.

The first of three sets of music performed, recorded and mixed by Scott Midlane, Head Down is a sultry affair of acoustic bliss but one that covers with the darkest of cowls a sense of rage and heat which is gritty, strong willed and beautiful to feel permeating across the airwaves.

For fans of Scott Midlane, the acoustic side of his work will not seem a strange foray into unknown territory and yet it is one that opens up before the listener like a freshly opened map, the terrain may seem familiar but in the end, the deeper you search for the attractions and places of interest, you find that it is all new and exciting, that the whole map is a playground in which to savour something beguiling and extraordinary.

Head Down and follow the notes, listen out for the introspective that Scott Midland introduces as the songs engrain themselves into the listener’s psyche, this may be raw, it might be seen as fluid and contemplative but it is absorbing, it is fascinating and attached to the humidity of human feeling; at no point does Scott Midlane allow the muggy to stray into view or the airless to get its point across, this is sultry and forgiving, the Spanish Dance learned after a thousand steps and the ever glowing smile of a Latin lover on hand.

Tracks such as Piss In The Wind Clint, A Woman’s Heat and the live version of Fleeting Pleasures not only add to the acoustic swelter, they make their own tune, they tell tales of the misstep but with affection in the voice and the honour of learning lessons, of keeping the Head Down and studying just what makes music so beautiful in any form.

A delightful acoustic set by Scott Midlane and with the promise of more in depth material to come.

For more information on the music of Scott Midlane go to scottiedogma.co.uk.

Ian D. Hall