Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Any Moment Now; an outburst of declaration, a quiet inward wish, a spoken treaty with fate, whichever way you tend to look those three small words, they are weighted with expectation, demand and more than enough hope inside of them. Any moment now, the realisation of years of practise, of dedication and often setback will conjoin and see the lightning strike in the same place twice, leaving the onlooker dazed by the flash of brilliance but rejoicing in having been able to witness its arrival.

Any Moment Now, this is the demand and the hope that has circled above and within Andrew Hesford as he has performed to crowds and radio presenters, to the far and wide and to the local, to the people who have held him dear as he has placed his enormous faith in the here and now and the future of the crafted song and accompanying tune. Any Moment Now, a wish for the creative to be seen as something more by society as either a star or someone doing what they do as a hobby, there is a middle ground, to be remembered as someone who would not cave in, who would let the lightning strike crack open the Earth and let all manner of glorious creatures out into the world.

There is so much musical talent and expertise on Any Moment Now, that there is no doubt left in the listener’s mind to just how serious a project this has been for Andrew Hesford. It may have taken time, but the best things come to those who not only wait but have the courage of their convictions to see the result not as an end but as a justification, a set of their own rules and regulations adhered to and with the promise to all that it will be seen as a beautiful triumph.

With Gavin Haze, Dave Galvin, Shirley Ellis, Louise McClelland, Judith McCarthy, Johnny Larsen, Jack Lewis, David Holden, John Hall, Pat McCall, Bob Swann, Tommy Maddocks, Ian Heath, Tony Potter, Mark Francis Tully and Robert Harrison all adding texture, flavour and an abundance of musical personality to Mr. Hesford’s vision, Any Moment Now is grace and the feeling of home on one simply created album.

In songs such as the painted picture of Hamilton Square, If I Believe, the overwhelming pleasure of music that springs forth through In Between Pauses, The Dreams I Have Of You, the deep down and courageously dirty, almost Noir like in its delivery of Bass Talk and Love Will Set Us Free, Andrew Hesford has fulfilled his own positive vision and dream, a collection of songs that don’t cry for attention, but are held out and handled by the listener as if they were fragile parts of the human psyche and they are charged with keeping them safe, making sure they are visible and cared for.

Any Moment Now, a serious case of the declaration of three words that when they combine are combustible, explosive and life affirming, they carry hope, the wish that something truly amazing will happen; and in this the hope is made flesh and granted.

Ian D. Hall