Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

It might not always be the case, but a song that undoubtedly comes from the soul is arguably indicative of the nature of the person who creates it, and who brings it to life in the performance. It is the reflection of the depth of humanity felt by the listener that reveals the nature of the art and the artist, and when the subject is stripped back to see how it works, how the cogs and wheels interchange within movements, it feels as though the intention was to fracture the spirit and not be concerned about the damage when somebody implores, “Don’t Break Me Up”.

Break-ups are hard enough without being analysed, whether romantically, professionally, psychologically, or even with long standing friends, an ending feels as if the world has caved in around you; but witnessing the collapse and separation as a stranger, and as it is happening, is somehow worse, infinitely so, and to hear the song that comes from any seismic ending, is to understand the soul completely.

For Liverpool’s Bibby, the imploring and heartfelt plea in question is for all to take notice of and appreciate in his new single, Don’t Break Me Up. The sense of petitioning on the listener is so palpable that it cannot bit help stir the memory of a time when they would have asked the same of anyone threatening to crack open the mind and allow the spirit, the care, to seep away.

The three songs that make up the single, the excellent A side, and the two intriguingly passionate B sides, Stuck In Galway and Storm On The Mersey Blues, combine Bibby’s precise vocals and wonderful self-harmony, with an in depth persuasion of the lyrical groove he has attained through constant hard work and dedication.

However, it is to the lead song itself that the thought of the listener constantly returns, and with good reason, for in the infectious character that the song holds, the Bibby stands tall, the quality talking for itself, but mindful of the presence of what inspired it to breathe in life. Infectiously melancholic, heartbreakingly beautiful, Don’t Break Me Up is the thunder before the storm, and the song revels in the delight of its making because of it.

Ian D. Hall