Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The last year has tested the resolve of us all; to keep going, to find peace in the eye of the storm, to find ways to remain above the rising water of concern and fury, to continue to find ways to keep the soul calm, but most of all to refuse to revisit old situations or people that we know caused us mental anguish in the past. We can go back to another place, but we must keep a tight rein on the emotions that forced us to leave, we have an obligation to be aware that what we have lived through of late does mean our heart has to overlook all that we escaped and return to it with open arms.

Every part of society has been touched by nature’s reminder that we are not as infallible as we believe, and whether we want to consider the possibility or not that we all have a tale to tell because of it, there is surely a wisdom, or at least an acceptance that we must endure, and if we are going to thrive then we must look at this moment in a way of moving forward.

It is a sentiment captured superbly by the Perth-based band Longstay as they continue to plough their way gloriously through the archive of material from studio work that they have dusted down and revitalised in the wake of circumnavigating the period where touring has been out of the question.  In the wonderful song Heading Back (To Miss You), Longstay found a way to return to the past without the sense of toxicity that others have faced and built an even greater foundation in which their work will stand out from in the years ahead and the freedom that comes with it.

The track also allows for a sense of fluidity from the band, and as lead guitarist Malcolm Swan takes the vocal for the first part of the song, before handing them back to Callum Campbell in the second verse, what is framed is the dispelling of the rigid form and replacing it with the combination of ideas expressed in separate melody, one that not every band can pull off without it causing a schism, a fracture in the listener’s perception.

Heading Back (To Miss You) is rambunctious, boisterous, but also firmly held is the belief that the band should, and will, see the other side of these grey times, and return, to head back to the stage, to hold their audience tighter that they ever have, and one that has been achieved without compromise and without selling the terrific music short.

Ian D. Hall