Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The argument of nature v nurture goes far beyond the debate of many social causes, it is also a question in which sees art and artists work close in hand with what they absorb from others, as well as what was probably innate within them to begin with.
It is all down to receptiveness and the appreciation of openness, and the draw of empathy, of understanding the fine balance of what makes your own heart sing and the pleasure of bringing others into that fold; by adaption we can take our heritage and make it colourful, we can give it a new lease of life and one that still holds on to the basic gifts of life inherited from our parents as we look up to them in the stars, the inheritance of our mother and the Daddy Gene which drives us to think beyond the Moon.
Daddy Gene is the product of the imagination, of seeking out someone’s perspective as they tackle the fear of their father being so far from home and in turn inspired by the documentary Last Man On The Moon. Stimulated by the life of Eugene Cernan and his voyage as part of the Apollo 17 mission and the daughter he left behind but leaving a constant reminder in the lunar dust by writing her name; seismic nature, or learned nurture, it is the gene that keeps on giving.
Joe Martin is accompanied on the single by Steve Brookes on drums, Andy Fairclough on piano, Paul Lush on electric guitar, Henry Senior on pedal steel and Chris Clarke on bass and percussion; it is a mix of musical appetites that makes this new single a positive and enthralling delight, one that does not betray the standing he has placed himself in, but one that enhances his reputation amongst the fans who delight in the Americana.
The point of Art is not just to show the observer a good time, it is it understand that all they absorb comes tumbling out in a sincere show of solidarity, influenced by many aspects, it can only ever be hoped that the audience sees the beauty available and leaves their own message to be seen.
A marvellously endowed single, Daddy Gene is the appreciation of the stellar.
Joe Martin releases the single Daddy Gene on February 26th.
Ian D. Hall