Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
How long we must all wonder what it would it feel like to scream from the rooftops that This Is My World, that the decisions are mine, the simple exercise of traversing the land and not being tied by convention, by outdated dogma, of being led to our graves by those who have their own agenda, one in which seeks to control the lives of all that is within their sphere of direction.
If we were to proclaim such a gift of words out loud, the sense of unease would be palpable, it would be rejected as being out of touch with the mainstream, out of step with the larger picture, yet sometimes civility needs to be shaken up from its watchful, almost terrorising vigilance, and be told that whilst community is sacrosanct, the need for the individual to be heard, to declare without shame and abuse that they understand what they themselves observe is just as sacred and true as what has always been held in reverence as the statues built in honour of the wrong and arguably immoral.
Such was the power of Punk that despite its initial brief alure and brightness in its musical proto form, those who took the message to their hearts, have never forgotten its influence, that it allowed groups such as Helen Love to strike out, not out of maliciousness, but in honour of their own lives, their own worlds, be it ever so humble, be it kind, unjust, be it simple, or even dynamic and unrelenting.
This Is My World, the terrifically inspiring new album from Helen Love, captures that frame of mind, the fire in the soul, the anger in the release, the sharp eye of observation that comes from being at the sharp end of existence, and it is a mouth-watering release that is modern urban poetry, one built from the idea of scenic surveillance with a human heart.
Across tracks such as the reflective opener of My Seaside Town, the excellent Billy Liar, Let The Sunshine In, Our House, First Day Of June, the celebration of the ordinary and legitimacy in The Social Club, and the sheer sadness that envelopes the listener in Clearing Out Mum’s House, the iconic Welsh Band have scored an album which at its peak resembles the insight of Dylan Thomas, but with a harder edge, a more brutal precision on the way that the modern world has dismissed the sense of the common voice as not being worth a dime.
Introspective is a powerful tool to own, the ability to exact the notion of honesty, to bypass the fluff of life which keeps you comfortably wrapped in chains that are in sight but seemingly bearable is a weapon that damns those who dare take the words from our mouths; for This Is My World, we contribute, we strive to make it perfect, we believe we can make a difference, but not everybody will be on the same side, and the voice, that simple act of human persuasion, is there for all to hear in Helen Love, all to rally behind in whatever world you want to make your own.
Helen Love release This Is My World on January 28th via Alcopop! Records.
Ian D. Hall