Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The emotional ties we keep hidden away in the attic, the items stored in boxes out of reach to all bar those with the humility and passion to climb a precarious ladder, are concealed out of sight for a reason, because whilst they remain deep inside the home’s least-ventured room, they remain safe and unscrutinised, they are the ideas that have yet to see fruition, yet to be placed on display, or relegated to the trash.
We all have these bonds and we all have our favourite toys squirreled away in the attic, the only difference is that some will find that the ideas won’t go away, that once delved into there is a pleasure waiting to be found, a treasure that gleams and enriches, and for George Sansome that rich vein of diamond perspective is one that has come of age in his self-titled debut album.
The Granny’s Attic member has not only unearthed his own tapestry of traditional music, but he managed to make it exist alongside his part in the band, a skill in which many falter and fall as they find coexisting a problem, an obstruction in which they don’t want to deny.
It is a tapestry as beautiful as this self-titled album requires a delicate weave, an eye for the precision, the needle must be kept constantly threaded, the maker must be diligent, and throughout the music must be sincere, hold onto the belief that the attic of treasure stored has been kept dry and free of adulteration, of compromise.
Across tracks such as The Bold Princess Royal, The Bleaches So Green, Bold Fisherman, the excellent The Rebel Soldier and Australia, George Sansome regales the listener with a polished observation and accomplished unboxing of the toys that he has cultivated, and in which the attic has offered up with presence of mind and the assuredness of a musician content and secure in their new found direction.
George Sansome’s solo recording is beautiful, charming, and direct, the attic has been extended, already lush and full of intrigue, it now has had an extension which widens the appeal of the band ever outwards.
George Sansome’s self-titled debut album is released on June 26th.
Ian D. Hall