Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Yesterday and tomorrow might seem like times that we can do nothing about, however if we refuse to acknowledge their existence, if we deny that thy have baring on the moment, then it stands to reason that they will inevitably find ways to hurt the present, the Gradual Move of human existence that lives between the tick and the tock.
Zoe Graham takes the Gradual Move in the form of her brand new E.P., and the announcement has been worth that demanding moment as she speaks with purpose and to those formative experiences that have changed her, moulder her to be the woman she has become, and the fears, hopes and dreams to which the future holds.
A countdown for the events yet to come is all well and good, but without the path that once guided you, then the move is not gradual, it is in decline, a steep learning curve misplaced, and one that is side stepped with grace by Zoe Graham, and in the four tracks Know By Now, Fault Lines, Sleep Talking and the E.P.’s title track, Gradual Move, the life story of a woman is played out, history melting seamlessly into the future possibilities, but one that is at least reconciled with the moment in which the tracks were laid down.
Nostalgia is a terrible curse, but if it can help bring about subtly of change, of acceptance then a Gradual Move is to be admired. It is in the fine-tuning of sophisticated thought, exposure and release that Zoe Graham announces herself to the mass appeal, the open voice that says we must cherish what has been, we must plan for the tomorrow, but most of all we need to live for the today, without fear of what lays either side.
A wonderful four track E.P., one to which speaks volumes of all of our current states of mind.
Zoe Graham releases Gradual Move September 25th.