Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
All points North in the end, and whilst the South has its own history, its own particular take on the songs that have driven the British soul, it is arguably to the Northern Shores & Stories that more than often find a way to describe a range of people to whom have been at times neglected by those to whom call the other half of the land, theirs.
To beckon, to act as a shining beacon so that others, no matter of their alliance to any point of the compass or which thought they employ as they cross the mythical boundary of any nation, is to be considered a port in which the weary traveller can find, despite the rocks of indifference often thrown from a distance, anybody who seeks the world beyond will surely be gratified by the sheer depth of art and physicality to which makes towns such as Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby a memory of beauty that they hold onto forever.
It is particular to the legendary town of Whitby that has housed fascination and inspiration for writers, poets, musicians, the misplaced and those to whom are drawn to the character that can be found on the cobbled high street and down at the docks, the place of old where stories and songs first made their mark.
For the award-winning Elizabeth & Jameson, collaboration is the point of extolling the virtues of individual freedom and the common pulse which binds a group of people together. Hannah Elizabeth and Griff Jameson have placed their trust in each other and delivered an album that is sweet, pure, and one that raises the serenity of the smile, the unknown grin that catches the eye when the listener doesn’t know they are giving to others.
Across tales and harmonic accounts of the famous and the unknown, Elizabeth & Jameson take the listener on a journey through the history of the area, and in tracks such as How Long Has It Been? Someone’s Missing Someone, Bet & Terry, Dance In The Shadows and the excellent and truly uplifting jovial sound of Bottomless Beer, Northern Shores & Stories becomes the soundtrack to your own life, no matter your place of origin, you will feel as though you are a resident of that famous old town.
An album that captures the heart of the area, of the north, and of the duo, a sense of upmost achievement, all contained in the core of what it means to love where you’re from.
Elizabeth & Jameson release Northern Shores & Stories on May 22nd.
Ian D. Hall