Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Love is an age old question that never quite understands that it cannot be defined, organised or labelled, Howard Jones asked what it was, Tina Turner demanded to know what it had to do with anything, and even Foreigner couldn’t get a pin to stick when they humbly enquired about wanting to know what it actually was. Love is an enigma sewn into a riddle and displayed quite often with the heart on the outside where it can be easily broken.

The question though that plays havoc with the gossip and the loose lips, and with sincerity of feeling by the keepers of upmost discretion, is Who Do You Love? and whilst the answer may be fumbled,circumnavigated by the doubts of the speaker, there is more truth to be unearthed in this line of enquiry then there ever is to be found in the existential desire and demand of unpicking the enigmatic and elusive.

There is a truth to be found in the question and one that is picked upon with a fiery passion by Tim Jackson in his guise of The Deep End and one to which the answer is to be found willingly thought over by the listener, not randomly or with the sensation of lust, but with a simplicity, a genuine ease to which hopefully the answer is one of honesty.

To love yourself is a must, for if you do not at least care for your own heart, how can you expect to hold another’s with the same attention, the same sense of duty. Even in the midst of despair, we must find ways to keep a proportion of love for ourselves, the time to listen and to reflect before we act rashly and without fear of consequence. It is the same for another and The Deep End uphold that view as the song progresses, as the tune takes you further into the place where the purity of the expression is captured.

In the fickle and constantly changing world of music and art, asking Who Do You Love? is one that might be misconstrued as a temporary fix, but in this single, The Deep End shows more than enough to propose that the listener will take him to their hearts for the long term; a relationship that is sure to grow.

Ian D. Hall