Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
When we are in Deep Water, we either learn how to swim and enjoy the freedom provided to us, or we hope that there is nothing lurking in the seemingly bottomless watery cavern beneath our kicking feet. Such is the fascination of the hidden depths, that it is no wonder we gravitate towards it when life becomes mundane, when we feel we can take on the stronger currents; for to survive Deep Water we must overcome the fear that it will drag us down to a place where we cannot get back to the safety, the senselessness of the shallow end of life.
Hidden depths, the reveal of our souls to how much we can withstand, how much we can illuminate the lives of others, or just the simple fact that we have out played ourselves and landed in a place we cannot handle, these mix of emotions ultimately satisfy the soul because it knows we have felt something beyond the ordinary, beyond fear, and it is, no matter how thought provoking, a measure of living we should all attest and sing the praises of.
For Rachel Croft, Deep Water is a release, physically and musically, the pressure, depending on your point of view, is one that sees her follow up from the sensational album, Hours Awake, with a track steeped in harmony, one that refuses to wallflower on the edge of the pool and watch mournfully on as others have their say, have their fun.
The track is one that encourages the listener to see that the shallow end of life, which might be safe, secure, doesn’t hold the same allure as life’s own bottomless experience, but that you also have to be brave, stoic, almost willing to confront the urge to remain where you were, to be able to reposition your life onwards and create new waves, to surf the world rather than paddle. A song to hearten whilst all the time challenging a subject matter that wishes to pull the listener inward.
Rachel Croft returns with a quiet fury, and in Deep Water she swims once more, unabated, unabashed, resolute in her conviction to deliver exceptionally written songs.
Ian D. Hall