Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
When a marriage falls apart there are often recriminations, accusations, and a lot of heartache; a pain that amplifies the more that others get involved, an ache that never truly reconciles.
The same can be said when a nation disintegrates, when it is pulled apart on grounds of religion, political divides, outlook and more despairingly, unfairness in the act of opportunity; the only difference is that there are a lot more people involved and each one of them could find ways to make the separation more complicated, more destructive. After all we are not talking about a house or splitting the assets of a bank account, when it comes to a nation fracturing, it descends into war on an unimaginable scale.
What is above so will Become The Sky, and for Anne Marie Howard, Mike Simms, Marcus Mayes and Joel Sawyer, the sky is the best place to see the struggles of the United Kingdom as the time we live in has irritated old wounds, that it has torn apart scars that have never healed, and laid waste in part to the idea behind the name, a country united that is on the verge of splitting up and leaving behind promissory notes to keep in touch for the sake of the children.
Teimlo Fel Chwyldro is Become The Sky’s latest single and the sense of history, of outward projection that comes through the song is in itself one of heartbreak but also of understanding exactly what has been done in the name of division; one the translation into English as Feels Like A Revolution, fits perfectly.
Anne Marie Howard’s soaring passionate vocals score deeply within the soul of the listener, and the musicianship surrounding the vocal is of the highest standard, revealing a sadness, a fear which pushes into the heart of the matter; and one that must not be ignored.
In our deepest thoughts we perhaps see revolution as the moment of change, but sometimes the pain inflicted before and beneath the sky and on the fields, does more damage than we can ever dream of encountering. A framing of our time in a song of super quality.
Ian D. Hall