Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is a vibe, that once heard, is difficult to dislodge, in fact, the moment it becomes part of you it gets to the point where it starts infusing itself, wrapping itself in the detail of your marrow, taking away what you once held as an enjoyment, and instead becoming a way of life.

From the scene at the now distant shore to the place in which the way of life is found to be tranquil, relaxed, a sincere type of energy captured in a realm of myths, magic and the undaunted peace of invention, HollowBone enter the fray of Cornish artistic endeavour and add to the creative flow and ingenuity to which the county is rightly famed.

For the three members of the Bude-based band HollowBone, it is with a gentle but stirring ease that the single they have recorded live ahead of nine original songs is one of Faith, in nature and name. A song fuelled by collaboration, but one that is caught in the air-driven surge that conceives the white horse crested waves that catch the unaware asunder and those ready to receive the gift from the ether in a kind of form that is deep, a sense of the significant change that sweeps the innovative off their feet with a passion.

Those waves that sweep along the north Cornish coast, the ones that once were signalled by the elements to bring out those who took on darker forms of wreckers, now play host to ones who practise a different kind of Faith, one exercised and versed in the acoustic salvation. There may be a huge swell of practitioners of the genre as the growing audience who have come to realise how skilful the writing and sound has become, a second renaissance perhaps, but it still takes a steely resolve in which to capture an epic in the making.

Inspired perhaps by the sense of peace afforded, Faith is a song that harnesses the elemental, the former drummer of The Shore, now breaking bread in a wonderful celebration of the acoustic vibe with his two new band mates a welcome renewal, a distinct pleasure to hear him, and the trio perform.

With more to come, HollowBone have carved out a trail in which to follow, one that has the confidence to grab the attention and trust of the listener.

Ian D. Hall