Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

There is nothing wrong with a wonderfully observed scare, it all depends on the delivery, the resonance of feeling in which it is felt, and should the story be conveyed by the surrounding of a joyful tune, one that without words would take on a completely different meaning, then so much the better.

Liverpool, like any other city, has its myths and fables, its legends, after all humanity has only built upon the surface what others may have laid the foundations for underground. It is though the timely celebration of such folklore and fables that brings the remarkable Sue Hedges out into the October wind and cold and in her jubilant, often incredible way, the words of I’ll Come For You are to be recognised as some of the most beguiling of her career.

Beguilement is one thing, capturing a moment is quite another, and to take on the responsibility of delving into the folklore of the city she calls home, Sue Hedges finds a place in which her music has been taken to another, surprising, but genuinely cool, level.

Across four songs, Seven Street’s Man, I’ll Come For You, Bury Me Standing and Jenny’s Last Ride, Sue Hedges reaches in to the dark heart of folklore and weaves tales of passionate, of unrestrained excellence. The dark is not a place in which we like to tread, stout heart may win fair love, but it doesn’t keep the nerves from jangling when you feel the breath of another world upon your cheeks, and the thought of the Devil being on your shoulder.

Any long-standing admirer of Sue Hedges will understand the importance that this artist brings to the music world, and yet in I’ll Come For You, that sense of reputation takes a giant leap, a significant step, and one that is more than welcome, it is an honour to hear. For all the forays in to disco, the beautiful ballads, the seamless stories captured, there is nothing like these four songs in her keyboard arsenal, a prominent point in her relationship with the audience, one that will fly and leave the listener with chills running up their spine.

Ian D. Hall