Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Without a poets heart, life surely must be one steeped in unending anger, devoid of meaning, and one that does not bare thinking about. In every profession, from bricklaying to being a chef, from shop keeper to pottery maker, even in the heart of a politician, there must reside some element of the poet, the one that feels the glory and the pulse of passion that makes life, even in the darkest hour, one of beauty.

It is in poetry, of whatever form that we seek the presence of our own soul, one that sees the virtue in their conviction, whether another person agrees with their opinion and conclusion is not the point, what matters is that a side is taken and that a mind can be changed and adapted by taking a walk through the Gap In The Fence.

Passion abounds in the fourth solo album by Tom Houston, Gap In The Fence, and it is certainly with a poet’s eye for observation and the sensuality of thought that the albums entails, that Tom Houston combines elegance with rebellion, not an open declaration of revolution, but a sign that all poet’s wish to exult, their willingness to cause trouble, to create mischief against those who seek to harm and install mayhem in the name of the fascist tool of ignorance.

The poet is certainly alive and well in Tom Houston’s hands, and the Gap In The Fence is a set of songs that undermine the status quo’s fixation on monetarism and the inability to see the world through the eyes of innocence, refusing to bend to those who see the gap as a machine in which to see the opposing view more clearly.

Across tracks such Mud On The Doorway, the youthful pleasure in Child On A Plane, The Hook, Jimmy And The Mammoth and Laughter Below, Tom Houston regales the listener with fruits of a labour that has its hands in the darker elements of humanity, as well as the joyous surprises that keeps the poet in check and on their toes.

An album of sincere depth, Gap In The Fence is the place in which we must strive to seek life from opposing views, the poet’s greatest strength.

Ian D. Hall