Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There is arguably no greater modern-day aphorism than what the idea of free-speech represents. To some it’s meaning is clear, it is the delivery of justice in the tone of their choosing, the demand to be able to denounce, criticise and condemn anything they don’t understand or which makes them feel anger. It is not enough to openly engage their mind and spout hateful rhetoric, their opinion used as a weapon, each plosive in the mouth a tiny shell of blame, they carry it into the land of social media, their ignorance basking in bliss as they accuse and censure anybody else who tries to calmly rationalise their own point of view.

Gone it seems are the days of the Speaker’s Corner, when somebody could orate with passion, presumably with facts at hand and vent their belief before leaving the stage with reasoned support, they at least are making an effort to have their face seen and remembered, as well as their thoughts out in the open.

It is to the memory of that gathering in daylight, of words exchanged and respect shown that a Speaker’s Corner should hold sway, a world away from the keyboard warrior and those who listen to reply and not to understand, and one that Nick Ellis again produces with extreme high quality, of thought, of delivery. This Speaker’s Corner is a lesson in the art of putting together words in such a way that the meaning is not only clear, but beautiful, and one that carries with it music that speaks volumes across crowds more used to the quick rant of the empty tin can than the full of character.

It is in the resolute character of Nick Ellis that the album gives its own rendition of thanks, the cheer inside the listener’s soul as they once again take up the cause and foundation stones of this particular musician’s mind. Across songs such as Impractical Ideas, Sally-Go-Round the Roses, Jesus Of Twine, Wrote My Baby a Letter and Lawrence Road Breakdown, Nick Ellis exemplifies the position of the narrator, of the observer, whether it is in the personal experience or taking up the source of someone else’s distress or need, that of clarity and reason.

Nick Ellis is never anything but succinct, a reliable witness of life on Speaker’s Corner.

Ian D. Hall