Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
The Perfect Blue is one in which captures the light it seeks with undeniable clarity, no other colour arguably resonates more emotion in the human mind, except for the revolution in the red but it is to Blue, this reflection of water, sky and mood in which perfection is sought. It takes overwhelming character to frame the human sensation in the pursuit, it can lead to a road in which the blue becomes the blues, and not the kind in which the 21st Century Renaissance of the genre has demanded, but more akin to the downbeat and almost dying glory of a faded existence.
To Rick Kemp, a Perfect Blue is best summed up and hunted down, not to be caged or abused, but to be studied, and then with the blessings of angels and ministers of the craft, let loose, fluttering as if the common blue butterfly that surrounds us, is there to bring good luck, fortune and wisdom.
The right contribution is important to any artistic endeavour, if the heart isn’t seen to be there, to be pumping in the same rhythmic appreciation, then the soul cannot follow. With dramatic impact by Theresa Kemp, Ian Kellett, Doug Morter, Dave Langdon, Richard Adams, Linda Adams and the Ewanrigg Community Choir, that sense of contribution is not only well placed, but vital, the heart and the soul merged together, a symbol of the Perfect Blue and deepest foundation that anyone would be privileged to hear.
There is no point waiting for something to happen, occasionally you have to see the world for what it offers, the beauty in the resourceful, the magic in the inspired and in songs such as Lowland Sky, Deep in the Darkest Night, Where Are They Now, Stars, (which was written and performed by Rick’s daughter Theresa), Georgetown Skyline and Somewhere Along the Road, Rick Kemp and the ensemble created, moulded, and given reign, tantalise the listener with softness, a hard-edged sincerity and one that makes this third album for Fellside Recordings an immense joy to hold.
Rick Kemp’s own contribution to British music is invaluable, it is a striking sense of the story continuing, flourishing, as the former Steeleye Span member refuses to give in to anything apart from the beauty of the song envisaged.
Ian D. Hall