Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The eye is the window in which we look into when we wish to see into someone’s soul, or so some would insist on being the only mantra worth following, however perhaps it is not that clear, not that obvious, perhaps it comes down to the voice, the sound which we make when all is well, the concern others take notice of when the world is not at peace with our presence; the eye in the end can be made to look glamorous when all around is fading out of the light , the voice though, even when it has little to say, can still sing of harmony and be a beacon to others that your soul is overflowing.

For Jude Adams both of these respects are held true, certainly the keen observation in which she has lived her life and the way she has held herself up as an example to all those who see life as more than just as an experience to dispense with once you have gone past the initial stages of youth, and that of a voice that resonates with flavour, with panache, the grace denied so many; the eyes have it but so to does the voice and both lead the listener down the path to fulfilment and joy.

To take a life and turn it into an aural memoir is perhaps not a new approach to releasing an album, but it is one that can entice, the various moments in which a life can turn, a decision made for whatever reason, is still a decision that has to be lived with, objectively and with the understanding that it may well be taken again if the circumstances don’t alter. We are cursed by our observations and lifted by the experience to which The Window To My Soul is a truth worth celebrating.

Alongside a written memoir, of sorts as Jude Adams is careful to point out, songs such as These Boots Are Made For Walking, To Put Things In Perspective, Beauty of Youth, Second Time Around and I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself, the creative soul picks out the songs that mirror her life, the observation becoming a harmony of expression, a place where the comfortable look back is coupled with certainty.

The Window To My Soul is a frank admission, the place where Jude Adams reflects of vulnerability and her place in today’s world. It is a place where she is surely praised, where the depth of feeling that is carried by her voice is mirrored by the compassion in her eyes.

Ian D. Hall