Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

If the road is straight and long, then no matter the view that accompanies it, it will seem as though there is nothing to do but cruise along and be taken on a long instructional ride and become bored by the endless direction being offered. Deviation and change, the odd bump, the swerve to avoid the oncoming obstacle, the sense of delivery at taking a corner a bit sharper than you might have otherwise considered, these are the things that make life, the journey of interesting perception, truly worthwhile.

You can observe all you want on the straight and narrow, however the view ahead will resemble the scene that you have long since passed, without change, without acknowledging that the deep roots you have safely taken to heart are exactly that that, no room for manoeuvre, no expression of surprise, no room for the impact that a Pohorylle snapshot of life can bring.

Margo Cilker’s debut album’s title may seem as though it has come from an obscure literary translation, and one that sees the metaphorical first detour in the journey of a music career; for this is no ordinary release, this is no place where the signposts are erected along the way, this is an album where Pohorylle needs deeper inspection, and like the tracks that inhabit it, stark groove and beauty inspired songs such as Broken Arm In Oregon, Tehachapi, Chester’s, the excellent Brother, Taxman, Preacher, and Wine In The World, brings to mind an artist who has observed their own life, who has not only seen the potholes and the possible exits on the way, but felt them, truly bore and experienced them with thought and care.

It is to memory that we seek answers, and whilst for the most part they are one sided recollection, they overlap with others in a way that only a Venn Diagram could celebrate, and it is to memory that Margo Cilker offers herself to the listener in the hope of spreading understanding and the wealth of interaction.

A road that is straight and conventional, no time for the odd detour to see what lays down a different path, is one that should not be seen as perfection, instead, as Margo Cilker espouses with articulate and breathless beauty, it is to the advantage of the person or the artist to seek out the lesser-known spiralling, sideways road and pathways in the belief that it will lead to a greater and more enticing journey.

A terrific debut, Pohorylle is a way of life captured and framed with dignity and expression.

Ian D. Hall