Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
It is the most endearing of qualities, the act of permanent kindness, one that can be lauded but is often abused, taken advantage of, being seen as a gain for all except for the person to whom their heart is in the right place and the urge to be constantly thoughtful often betrays the way they are looked upon.
It is too all those who seek out kindness as a way to offer help, who know the value of word spoken with compassionate nature, to whom the world should belong; it is a world in which the influence of Arizona’s Courtney Marie Andrews will no doubt be part of as her Honest Life gives way to stating with intent, that May Your Kindness Remain.
This brand new album sees Ms. Andrews gain the further attention she so readily deserves, a sense of consideration in a world that falls to easily on the side of suspicion and arrogance, in which toxicity brews on every social media site and resentment festers at the way people live their own lives. Instead of holding others to your own imagined status in life or your ways of doing something, it is possible to act out kindness sometimes and just walk on past without commenting. It is in that start that May Your Kindness Remain takes a hold, that being cruel can become a way of the past.
In Ms. Andrews’ voice, being kind is a sense of love; it falls upon the listener with eager anticipation of showing every silk-driven intent. This is the sense of the comfortable meeting the benevolent tongue, of songs sang with passion and care, not a note put wrong or a word said out of place.
It is also a reminder that we still live in a world where people’s opinions often are not in sync with the facts, that our own voice is more pleasurable to us at times than the seeking out of others tones and thoughts, it is a congress of emotions we should attempt to temper, a radical thought we should embrace.
In songs such as the album’s opener of May Your Kindness Remain, through songs such as Lift The Lonely From My Heart, Two Cold Nights In Buffalo, Border, Kindness of Strangers and Long Road Back To You, Courtney Marie Andrews opens her soul and with an empathy of emotions in which the listener should take care not to abuse, for kindness can be ever flowing, but it also requires nurturing if we are ever to get past the toxicity of the age.
A wonderfully produced album, which showcases the enormous talent in Ms. Andrews, May Your Kindness Remain, may it flourish, for Courtney Marie Andrews it certainly does deserve it.
Ian D. Hall