Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
If we are fortunate in life then we will have experienced love as both the person adored and the one who has feels their heart pound faster when near the person who makes them special; if we prosperous in love then we have been so close to a family member that to be without them is the hardest emotion to bare.
We know we can rely on them just for a kind word when the going gets tough, we can give them a hug without seeking permission, even when the moment isn’t right, we can miss a smile, the smell, the look, the worn out jumper they used to wear as a second skin, we miss them because our Tender hearts are only human.
It is always the artist that says what we wish could convey, on a painting and witnessing the colours run and bleed into one another, the smallest dab which proclaims a sense of gentleness, a sonnet once written to woo, now spoken with long held affection and the musician to whom the words of love are held as high as the top of a mountain and as unshakable as the land it dominates.
For Little Sparrow, Tender is the loss we feel when that person is no longer side by side with us, when all we have left are the memories in our heads or in photo albums, cared for, finger traced and kissed. Tender is the feeling in our hearts that grows and flourishes because at the end of the day, we all have that one person to whom we would sacrifice everything just to have them back for an hour to tell them we love them.
The song, which features Robin Dewhurst, is everything you would expect from Little Sparrow, the soaring voice, the quick and beautiful shift in resonance and one that is full of charm; the sensuous in amongst the feeling of responsibility and care. It is a responsibility that Little Sparrow has once again held close, her attention to mood is sensitive and passionate and one that reinforces her as a vocalist with splendour oozing out of every pore.
A wonderful single, a timely reminder that it is ok to feel that part of you is missing when thinking of a loved one who has passed away, Tender after all is what makes compassion an attractive trait in humanity.
Little Sparrow comes to Liverpool’s Music Rooms with Elfin Bow on Sunday 15th April.
Ian D. Hall