Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

To understand that the way you perceive a moment in time or a place can be altered by the presence of a certain individual is arguably the point of identifying your stance in faith and in love, of stepping over the boundary between selfish observation and openness, of single martyrdom and petulant irritability and that of composure and assurance. It is in the mark of maturity that we seek to embrace serenity in the midst of chaos and revulsion, that we accept that whilst we maybe disgusted by our surroundings we can openly say that I Hate It Here, But You Are Here, And I Love You.

Like many of their Liverpool peers and musical contemporaries, the wisdom in Elijah James & The Nightmares craft placed before the audience has always been recognised, praised, keenly admired and quite rightly so, and yet in their new single, I Hate It Here, But You Are Here, And I Love You what comes across is a deepening sense of experience, the anger of youth which has been discerning and welcome is now shining brightly as a leader, a conviction of principal and one that seeks to unravel the now and go forward, to spearhead a new direction.

We must all evolve beyond what we were and it is in this perpetual struggle that some strive to set a precedent, to signal a change, not only in themselves, but in others, and in the way that Elijah James & The Nightmares have opened up their account towards the release of their next album later on in the year, it is fair to acknowledge that the progress shown, although unquestionable and surely anticipated, is one in which will be hugely satisfying and seismic.

A single which displays emotion and which ponders upon a story to which we can all imagine ourselves having partaken in, is a cut above anything that might come to pass in a world obsessed by the beige and repetitive, a triumph that was always going to be unveiled.

Ian D. Hall