Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Now More Than Ever we should be looking at ourselves in the eye and asking ourselves a simple question, what can we achieve whilst time is seemingly against us, and the honest, the sincere answer should not be one shrouded in excuses, in the feelings of what if we fail, but in the words of Erin Hanson,”What if you fly?”
Now More Than Ever we need to fly in the face of our own unconscious bias, that annoying and doubtful melancholic cousin of Jiminy Cricket who wilfully whispers in ear that there is nothing we can do that is different, that what is the point of ambition, that this is the fin de siècle and that we cannot hope to grow, that the best thing to do is just wait for the inevitable hole to swallow us dry.
Melancholy is all well and good, it has its place in art, it can also be a spur, a drive to greater appreciation, but we should also embrace the fiddle of self-assured confidence, that sound that drowns out the irresponsible cricket’s whispers and pleas of self-indulgence, and get down to the business of creating passion, a belief, the mark that we were just here but that we continued to grow and expand our sense of purpose.
The second album by the Katie McNally Trio, Now More Than Ever, is one such indication, a sign, a glaring set of headlights lighting up a dark forest road, that we must strive to keep surpassing ourselves, to keep the faith that the sun will rise every day over the heather in the fields of Scotland and the city of Boston.
Following up from their impressive debut, The Boston States, the Katie McNally Trio have sought to push on, to gain further ground, and have done so with a recording that quite superbly catches the feel of ambition and the aural taste of Scottish Traditional music, and in tracks such as Lament For the Red Ladder, Worthly Pond, Acadia March -The Brunch Tune and Bearcat Waltz, Katie McNally, Neil Pearlman and Shauncey Ali respectfully, responsibly, beautifully capture the meaning of continuance, that we must believe that time is imperative, but which in the best of hands too which each of us possesses, can lead us to our own memorial; that we were forever.
Examination of Scottish traditionalism through the senses of the inspired American group. The Katie McNally Trio have pushed themselves on and left a sign telling the listener to join them on the trail.
Katie McNally Trio release Now More Than Ever on December 4th.
Ian D. Hall