Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Rarely do we get to even get to place ourselves in someone else’s shoes, let alone to see out of the eyes of mythical gods and deities, but for the first time in decades we perhaps can have an inkling of true empathy for another’s suffering, that like the Roman god Janus, we can see the beginnings of our trials and the transition we have undergone as both sides of the divide yearn for melancholy longing and are concerned over what the prospect of tomorrow will bring.

The coin of decision is flipped in the air, however when it comes down will we acknowledge that the same face will appear to us all, the same stark realisation of what has been the most tumultuous time in collective memory, that we may reminisce of what has been as we immerse ourselves Knee Deep In Nostalgia and find disquiet in The Unforeseeable Future to what the following years may bring.

Two albums released simultaneously by an artist can be problematic, even two inside a year can leave an unease, a discomfort in the stomach as the listener, rather than being grateful for the unexpected surplus of songs by their favourite artist, finds that perhaps the experience is based in having too much to say, to sure of their voice and place. It has happened before, in recent times one only has to remember Green Day and the way that they released three albums inside three months, and the shudder of regret that accompanied it.

However, nostalgia and hope, faith and memory are curious bedfellows, and it takes a certain type of determination, quiet, counselled, mysterious and open to embracing gut feelings, to create a pair of albums that sit comfortably side by side, but have the dichotomy of opinion, even views, surrounding them.

Two sides of the same coin and yet stamped in superb Beans On Toast style, one with company, the other a solo reflective tour of the mind as it gets to grips with how 2020 has turned out for all; and in both cases the songs that appear are genuine, provocative, pleasurable.

In Knee Deep In Nostalgia, Frank Turner, Matt Hensley, Matt Nasir, Guise and Anna Jenkins join Beans On Toast on tracks such as What Would Willie Do?, No Need To Be Frightened, The Family Tree and the cool Your Old Mate Beano with vivacity of spirit and a groove that is enlightening. It is though perhaps in The Unforeseeable Future that 2020, that the imagination of the artist is revealed in its absolute and ferocious style, and in songs such as Chessington World Of Adventures, the superb Glastonbury Weekend, Save The Music, Arseholes and What Colour Are You, the coin that spins in the air slows down, the edges are magnified, the facial aspect is shown in all its glory, and what remains is a belief that this minted edition encompasses an inscrutability of truth laid bare.

Two albums, two visions that work in harmony with each other; Beans on Toast has captured hope, has framed what we fear, and all in his own indomitable style.

Beans On Toast’s Knee Deep In Nostalgia and The Unforeseeable Future are both out now.

Ian D. Hall