Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
There is the extreme, the sense that you can give everything, all that you can and reap every reward possible, or pay scant regard, ignore the world and the stories being told and place yourself inside a box, cocooned, cushioned and deaf to the cries, the love, the fear and the heartbreak; you either embrace the world with every possible sinew in your soul bursting at the seams, or you become aloof, broken, alone and a faded memory, for there is Nothing In Between that can fill the void.
Four solo albums down the line and Peggy James’ instinctive ear for a great story turned song shows no signs of floundering or even hesitating, and armed with the sense of purpose and additional driving passion supplied by producer Jim Eannelli, who acts arguably as a perfect sounding board for the ideas that are awash in the album, Nothing In Between is the push between listener and artist that asks each other to fulfil the dream, to take the words to the highest peak around and let the world hear them.
If there is nothing between the two extremes of life then to be genuine, to be trusted, is to be upon the side in which pulls the world in the right direction, to be honest enough to show hurt, to be brave enough to let the scars be shown alongside the smiles of a life lived, that is the extreme in which the good become great.
In songs such as X-Files, the glowing sonic embers in the finale of the album, I Wish You Well, the desperate truth of fading love in In One Ear (& Out The Other), Sound of Your Wheels, Lover and the album’s title track Nothing In Between, the emotion, the thought of balancing the sense of possible susceptibility and the desire of potency and right, catches the ears of the listener and in which has the mark of respect for the feeling of empathy that wishes to dominate with a fair and just hand.
A wonderfully poised album, a winning combination all round and one that understands that there really is something in the space where people may suggest nothing can exist; it just needs to be coaxed out, prised out and be allowed to see the light.
Peggy James releases Nothing In Between on June 29th.
Ian D. Hall