Ian David Green, Songs From The Wheel. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Where would we be without the wheel, alliteration aside, the helm of life would be drastically different if some bright spark from the beginnings of the Bronze Age hadn’t looked at the way boats were playing a part in conquering the seas and driving commerce, spreading culture, and perhaps aiding the odd incursion and pillage of foreign shores, and thought how much effort could be saved on the waters and assist and benefit the farmers of the ancient world by taking a hard durable rock, boring a hole in the middle of it and fashioning into a shape that easily rotates…to answer a question, human existence and history would be very different.

The wheel, and the songs that come from being in control of direction, are numerous in shape and distinction, and like the songs of the sea, have their own flavour, the way they force themselves on to the listener’s experiences in all its forms, and for Ian David Green they represent continuance and evolution, the turning of the wheel of life which sees the musician create a new album in which to stamp his own unique authority upon, and steer his own thoughts to that which innovates and transforms

Following up on the enormously appreciated album, Songs Of The Sea, Ian David Green has produced an album track list brimming with charm, beauty, and confidence, and one which frames the insight and prowess of the artist with valour.

Songs From The Wheel is direction, it is the mechanism of controlled drive, but it is also the harmony of a smooth pursuit, and in tracks such as Chelsea Hotel, Wedding Song, The Robber’s Tale, Rainbows, The Place Where My Heart Lives, and The Wheel, the journey undertaken is one provided by the mode of transport included. This is not an album of simple and effortless instinct; it is one fashioned by the collective memory of all the millions of hours of manoeuvring the human mind to a place where it can turn on a dime and steer itself, can feel the rubber burn beneath the feet, to the most imaginative of tales regaled.

For that is the point of the album for the listener, music and the verbal imparting of human stories, lucid, pushing the edge of detail, are as one, and conquer the heart and soul with a flourish. For as long as Ian David Green holds on to the wheel the public and the fans alike will find their journey, singing songs as the miles go by, will be one of blissful interaction and feeling. 

Ian David Green’s Songs From The Wheel is released on 26th February.

Ian D. Hall