Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Beauty is often a reward that is tainted with scepticism, with the reminder that it is only skin deep and that those who practice such ethereal fleeting moments have little else but vanity for company, narcissism and hollowness as bedfellows. Beauty though is not just the appearance on the face of the human being, the flawed perception of pride in one’s looks, it is also the grace to which the heavens hold sway, and in which nature in all its boldness makes art possible.
Beauty can be the recognition of just how insignificant we are when we look to the stars above us and see Venus and the Crescent Moon shining down upon us, for in that attraction beyond our comprehension, the best we can often hope for is to emulate it, succumb to its power and capture its meaning.
In the eye of the beholder, beauty wears a crown of gold, but in those that use their sense of hearing, their unfailing imagination, beauty is more than regal, it is dominant, fulfilling, and occasionally when the wind is blowing in the right direction, sacrosanct. In the realm of such things stands Deborah Jackson and Skeet Williams and their new album, Venus and the Crescent Moon.
The goddess of love has certainly found her target with this particular offering, a duet that is frankly heavenly in itself, a sound framed by the roar of sunlight as it finds two souls who have complimented each other to such an extent that songs such as The Trouble With Wanting, It’s Not The Way, the engagingly gorgeous Please Send A Sign, A Blank Sheet Full Of Holes, Picked At The Seams and the lament of I Need A Friend all hit home and both lift the spirits of enjoyment, and break the hearts of the believers, for in the haunting double progression of vocals, there is true beauty, one that brings sorrow to the heart and tears to the eyes. For the truth of the songs is such that it would surely be a long time before you hear anything as open, as exposed as this album manages to portray.
With excellent accompaniment by musicians such as Christopher Simms on guitar, Daniel Fishel on trombone and Izzy Rider on trumpet, Venus and the Crescent Moon is a natural born beauty, vulnerable, exotic, passionate; such unspoilt pleasure can only be admired.
Ian D. Hall