Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Eventually you reach a point in life where satisfaction, pride, and the sense of achievement collide, where you realise that all there was that went before was just a prelude, one obviously of learning, of adaption, and hopefully of fine tuning and fun. To find that feeling in your heart and soul once is a gift, to recognise it a second time is embrace the knowledge that you have always been able to hold fast to the dream of endurance, patience and survival; that Twice In A Lifetime is a freedom of expression granted to so few.
Momentary fame may be enough for some, the glitz and the glamour, but as the initial moment suggests, fleeting, transitory celebrity is not prominence, its reputation is one of notoriety rather than note-worthy, those that seek the hard work, the unashamed industry, will be granted a sense of powerful emotions that go beyond mythic status and the identification of other’s fawning gratitude, they, Like Andrew Roachford, are blessed to appreciate the endeavour for what it may offer as way of inspiration to others.
To be a marvel is one thing, but to be an ambassador for your craft, that is quite another, and as Andrew Roachford releases his latest album, Twice In A Lifetime, the sense of resolve and strength of character to bring an album of joy, of immense observation and absolute responsibility to the fore, is overwhelming; more passion that might have been considered once upon a time by those without forethought, foresight and reckless dismissal, what Roachford has brought to his seismic table is arguably the finest piece of solo work to date, and one that ultimately rivals his work with Mike Rutherford on stage in Mike and the Mechanics.
If all Roachford wanted to do was create great music, then that first time of asking he had already succeeded, but instead he has followed on, ploughed the field of creativity to the point where the harvest is one of exceptional bounty, and as tracks such as Love Remedy, Give It Up And Let It Go, Are You Satisfied? The Truth Hurts Too Much, So Long and What We Had, which features the stunning voice of Beverley Knight, flow and weave their way through the consciousness of the listener with the same effect as one might have imagined when Stevie Wonder sat down and wrote the classics Songs In The Key of Life or Talking Book, then Twice In A Lifetime is the culmination of industry, of love, and it something we should all wish we could achieve.
A brilliant and open-hearted album, one that is the product of never sitting still and resting on laurels, of continually striving to reach personal enlightenment.
Roachford releases Twice In A Lifetime on September 11th via BMG.
Ian D. Hall