Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
There will be arguments in the years, even decades, ahead on how we observe the passing of time that history has placed us in, as 2020 rolls in 2022 and perhaps beyond for an indefinite period of time, of how we should commemorate, even lay to rest the moment When The World Stood Still.
One such debate will focus on whether even the idea of artistic observance has any right to make an impact on the grief or the anger felt by those who survive in whatever way they can during the tumultuous period, the anxiety of existentialism we have faced; and the only answer that we can give is yes, we must be able to confront not only recent history by discussing it openly, but anything that has caused us pain in the past, we should be open to create art, perform plays, generate the passion of music, for no matter what has happened in life, art is the great healer.
For Cornwall’s Wille & The Bandits, the sheer wight of meaning behind the idea of enforced silence, of human creativity being stifled, is arguably uppermost in their minds as they release their fifth studio album, When The World Stood Still; and one that undoubtedly is the biggest, most animated, seismic recording to date.
From start to finish, When The World Stood Still is the epitome of faultless precision, an accomplishment in artistic observance, and one that really gets to grips with frustration, the levels of loss that we go through when we are urged to accept something being taken away from us as if the feeling don’t matter; and each track unfolds, Wille Edwards, Harry Mackaill, Matthew Gallagher and Tom Gilkes stomp over the years missed and produce, inhabit a world of excellence.
Excellence is always strived for, why would you attempt anything if you weren’t going to give it all, and yet in this latest album, so full of boisterous anger, unforgiving patience, and rocking great tunes, excellence is the sincerest and feeling of gravitas that the listener can bestow upon it. As tracks such as I’m Alive, Good Stuff, In This Together, Will We Ever, Move To Fast, the symbolic Broken Words, Daylight, Refuge, and the album’s title track, When The World Stood Still storm out of the speakers as if on fire, set free from the constraints of minimalism and the objections of those who do more than good by insisting that feelings, emotions, and passions, are nothing compared to ignorance and lack of appreciation.
The world will be undoubtedly changed, just as we all are by the ripples and effects of anything that disturbs our equilibrium, our balance and point of view, but how we emerge from it, how we alter our own perception is when the world will start turning again, and it will be thanks to groups such as Wille & The Bandits as they tear down the wall on silent sorrow and masking pain.
Wille & The Bandits release When The World Stood Still on January 28th.
Ian D. Hall