Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There will be sorcerers and magicians who insist you cannot perform without an intact wand, conductors who claim that the baton has to be unbroken and true for it to have any effect on the orchestra, they are of course wrong, for The Sound Of The Broken Wand is in the heart and soul of any communication, any magic spell weaved that leaves you entranced by what you have been made privy to; it might not be the spell or the incantation you were looking for, but in the right hands it is influential, it is charming, it is boisterous, uplifting, and embracing.

The Sound Of The Broken Wand, carries with it the might and majestic application of the indomitable Tiki Black, a woman of substance who has been regretfully missing from the listener’s lives for what seems the longest time. It is not just substance, but her physical presence, those deep underlying vocals that bring beautifully haunting memories of many of the finest singers of the age rapidly to mind.

There is nothing broken in this long-awaited return of one of the most glorious singer/songwriters/musicians to have whispered deep, just a sense of restoration, of the unblemished heart bringing her sensational sound back to life. It is a life that has always been full and textured, of not holding back on thoughts and moments of pure sadness and its joyful twin of experience, but in this new, and outrageously cool recording, Tiki Black arguably has never sounded finer, and in songs and hard driving subject matter such as The Other Woman, The Debt, Release Me, Colour Me Blue, the sublime A Ghost Of Me, and the outstanding title track, The Sound Of A Broken Wand, the beauty that has been missing from the listener’s heart, is restored to its proper and fitting place.

The Sound Of The Broken Wand still creates a commotion in the ears of those willing to join in the struggle, it still has the ability to weave powerful spells and transform the ordinary of people’s lives into the positive arena, a place where the deeply held belief has the world in its hands.

Ian D. Hall