Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Trust in one’s self to create a sense of timeless perfection is perhaps one of the ultimate goals in which any artist can strive for. Trust, it is not always given to those in our company, let alone to ourselves, we may believe that what we do is the singular most important desire to feel and we wish to convey that to others in a bout of confidence, in a show of hands we seek validation, but what we often forget to engage with is understanding, we may love and admire our own creation,  but unless we understand what it will do to others, then the moment is tangible, never timeless.

To understand what we seek we must find a way to get out of the comfort we feel, we must look to a different side of the compass for inspiration, strike out in a bold new direction, and quite often return to the place where intimacy holds hands with the warmth of once former seclusion; to attain the timeless, we can either go West or go home, both offer the sense of the endearing and changeless.

It is with the idea of striding into the unknown that Rachel Newton returns with a haunting, almost spectral passion, new album, West. Timeless in both its delivery and objectivity, Rachel Newton’s journey has arguably led to this point, a returning to the family home, surrounded by memories, but one in which tradition is placed in a very different atmosphere and yet still revered for the love it attains.

It is a state of mind that is as fascinating as it is forceful, to be allowed the luxury of being in someone’s mind, to feel the tenderness of expression that comes with a solo performance as the artist makes their depth of feeling known, that should be considered an honour.

One can never be truly sure whether a piece of art is framed by nature or by nurture, in the end the listener can only decide for themselves just how West someone may have travelled to discover something different, a new way of looking at a familiar sound or place.

In tracks such as Skye Air, One I Had A True Love, A Token, Ben Mor Coigath and a rather persuasive version of the Dolly Parton classic Jolene, Ms. Newton hands out with genius and humility a scintillating, and crucial lesson in approaching music, a beguiling example of beauty; and one that is devastatingly cool to be part of.

Ian D. Hall