Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Not everyone has the natural movement of swagger gushing out of every pore, not everyone has the ability to cause a tornado to turn tail and steer clear of the hurricane they employ when performing, and few can announce themselves in such a way that it makes you wonder why the world in all its glory, has not found a way to be more accommodating to those that deliver in spades without finding ways to tear them down, to make all feel as though there is war against artistry and creativity being waged.

Swagger is an illumination, and with timing and passion it comes to describe perfectly just how the husband and wife team of When Rivers Meet, Grace and Aaron Bond, have set themselves up as one of the most exciting Blues/Rock duos of the last 20 years.

Swagger is nothing of course without foundation, style doesn’t come easily on its own, there is hard work, exploration, and whilst your ability may be a gift, it is not as simple as just turning up and playing a song to the multitude and having them adore you; to be able to declare that We Fly Free, you must be able to back it up, not only talk the talk but prove without insistence that you can soar, and unlike Icarus, you can go as high as you like without getting your wings singed and keep your feet on the ground at the same time.

For Grace Bond and her husband Aaron, along with superb performances by Adam Bowers and Robin G Breeze as they share duties on bass, drums, organ and piano, We Fly Free is that declaration in full and beautiful motion.

It strides with purpose, it is playful where it needs to be, it is suggestive as all good Blues/Rock should be, but most of all it is outrageously cool; and on tracks such as the opening salvo of Did I Break The Law, Walking On The Wire, Kissing The Sky, the superb Breaker of Chains, Bury My Body, the finale of Friend Of Mine and the album title track of We Fly Free, that sense, that apt description of freedom is to be admired, and to be cause celebre to the maximum.

We Fly Free is an astonishing album that should be recognised as a pivotal moment in time, as with the debuts by Johnny Cash, Joe Bonamassa and Joanne Shaw Taylor, it marks the start of a new era of the genre.

Ian D. Hall