Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
These are days of wonder and spiritual emptiness rolled into one giant ball of unforgiving sense of isolation and barrenness which is hard to contend with, even harder to reconcile and comprehend. In such times we must take every opportunity to beat our breastbone and keep the heart going, to undertake acts of compassion, to feel the warmth of anger, for whilst there is art, hope and the sound of a muscle moving underneath our ribs, then there is every chance the days ahead will clear and reveal we can live with Desolate Days.
Not only must we live those moments, but in truth we must seek out the songs that make those desolate times dynamic, energetic, full of power, the roar of the crowd and the beast on stage, for in these pursuits we gain control over the sadness, we come to find ways to influence our own thought, and the grim and austere can, and must, be defeated.
The sound of the charge against such bleakness can be found in Aaron Ellis’ exceptionally delivered album, Desolate Days, a hybrid of emotions cascading outwards, the feelings that were thought to be left behind after Hope escaped Pandora’s Box, the emotions that see fit to strike at the heart of fear, the wretched and the unwelcome wild. It is to Arron Ellis sense of creative freedom that the music that leads this charge is rambunctious, threatening to the despair of those who cause the feeling of abandonment, and wonderfully vibrant, forceful to the extreme.
Across tracks such as the opener The Beginning, To See Your Face, the excellent Night Shuttle To Havana, The Grand Slowness and You Can’t Horde Your Life’s Memories, the enormity of the music performed is akin to that created by one of the masters of the genre, Steve Hackett, the sense of fury and instrumental story-telling is effervescent and animated; the truth displayed, the sense of the antidote to bleakness and sterility, delivered.
Whilst Aaron Ellis might suggest this is not the usual outlook of his music, it is nonetheless a tremendous beast of music which is heavyweight, compulsive and welcoming, throwing its mighty arms around the listener and fighting alongside them to dispel the banal and the beige, the recklessly unfavourable with passion. Outstanding!
Ian D. Hall