Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
A policy of Scorched Earth historically does not bode well for humanity, spoken confrontations are not required to conjure up the imagery the message entails, and as we find the barrenness that comes from the destruction, so we perhaps cower at the prospect of finding anything other than the shell we once were, the soul marginalised, the belief dispersed to the winds.
Then there is the regrowth, the soil returns, the creative storm in the aftermath, like the fields that produce sumptuous plants and lush grass as the lava from the volcano settles and hardens, so to do we see the beauty that comes from the burnt offering for the soul, the release of gravitas, the reflection made possible, and still in some quarters no words are required to describe the generous feeling of belief, instead we allow the instruments, and the music to convey all that we need to say.
Paul Tasker’s latest recording, Tierra Quemada, is one of such finery in growth, a musician to whom the music surges like rainwater rolling down the hills and quenching the thirst felt by the fields as they dry out and become baked by the sun. It is this reveal of fortune that once more the musician inspires, motivates, and arouses without speaking, a poetry experience with just a soul, a recited verse given full attention by the instrument of choice.
Tierra Quemada is a home to insight, and as tracks such as Firefly, the excellent flighted determination of Murmuration, Riding Out, After The Rain, and the special encounter that is greeted with smiles and passion in Womble The Sausage Dog, Paul Tasker, with vehement additional support by Laura Beth Salter, Rachel Hair, Una McGlone, Richard Evan, Robert Henderson, and Dejan Lapanja, that insight is the unspoken gesture of support, the ease of musical language acting as an aid to the day, the peace after an seismic event’s destruction.
There are few things that can downplay the spoken word in emotional understanding, of reaching out to the forgotten, the broken, the damned, but the instrumental appeal pursued by Paul Tasker in this charming, examining, and creatively astute recording is one such art that speaks louder than any speech of encouragement can muster. Adept and fitting, Tierra Quemada is a song from the silent caught and relished by all.
Paul Tasker releases Tierra Quemada on April 1st via Yellowroom Records.
Ian D. Hall