Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

We hold our head in our hands and look for the signs in which we know and understand will guide us; not exactly a prayer, more of a request that our time is never wasted, that even when we look back at our youth, perhaps the first real inclination that we are embroiled in the lonely and remote thoughts that our mind conjures up, that the songs and stories we make up at that point are the ones that drive us when we grow older.

Songs From A (Bed)Room is a collection of memories and reflections from the hugely admired Barry Jones, part of the equally revered Southbound Attic Band and which captures a moment of the solitary and the consideration to which music is more than a key of life, it is a vital and deliberate action in which we embrace our own misgivings, and which proposes we purposely defy those that exhaust our well-meaning adventures to new, mysterious lands of song. The bedroom is the symbol of sanctuary and the centre of the home, it is where in the darkness we can be free and defend our thoughts against those who would dare suggest we should not express feeling or commitment to our own artistic soul.

Despite not having the exceptional Ronnie Clark available, the four track E.P. is one that refuses to be undone by the space and instead is gallant and proactive in its own outlook, and in the songs and inspiration gained by The Journey, Folk On The Farm, Record Booth Bard and California Ways, of the beauty motivated by the muse and the artist, in this case the love letter from Leonard Cohen to Marianne Ihlen, the over-riding message is one of care, of holding a hand out to the protective shelter of the room and holding tightly the emotions that are found.

The poet that inspires is the composer of many others own love, the Muse may be the catalyst, but it is to those that song touches that verification and applause dwells and resounds with honesty; and honesty that Barry Jones has never failed to achieve.

Songs From A(Bed)Room is a reminder of the times spent with just your thoughts for company and how each one of us conveyed those feelings once we made our mark on the world. Inspired reflections by a poet to his own Muse.

Barry Jones’ forthcoming release Songs From A(Bed)Room will available soon to purchase from the Southbound Attic Band’s own website.

Ian D. Hall