Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
It is that moment that we come to recognise that Time is no longer an ally and has found a way to urge us to concentrate on all that can make us immortal through our expression, our indulgences, in our undertaking to make the art within us live forever. In that moment the Wildflower outlives the rose, the fleeting nature of beauty holds firm in the soil of audience criticism in a way that the dahlia, the carnation, or the lily will never understand.
Time is a delicate machine, and sometimes if we take note of what it is trying to implore upon us, it can lead to avenues yet untouched by our imagination, and by doing so we are granted access to the sun, we are given more time in which to turn our hand to something special, a moment that will thrive in the glare of Time.
Derek Vanderhorst’s time has been one of the most satisfying and productive of all that may come the listener’s way, and one in which his latest recording, Wildflower, is amongst the most stirring and passionately played anyone is likely to hear in 2022.
Perhaps more well known for his cinematic work, of which he has had the honour of being nominated for Academy Awards, such as No Country For Old Men, Hidden Figures, and recently for the glorious The Eyes Of Tammy Faye, it comes as no surprise than even in adversity he finds the will, the strength of heart and soul to continue to produce some of the most delicate and time heeled tracks to date, and as the sublime opener of Can’t Fall In Love With You, Baby, the excellent Hillbilly Princess, If You’re Gonna Love Somebody all bloom in consideration, all release the heavenly aroma of observed, and stimulating beauty, so the Wildflower is appreciated fully and without pressure.
With contributions from Gabe Witcher, Mike Vaerio, Johnny Bradley, Jimmy Paxson, and a stunning duet with Miranda Lee Richards, Derek Vanderhorst’s vision is one of skilfully dominated thought, a wrestle with Time itself perhaps and one in which whilst we can never win, earns anyone who is inspired by Mr. Vanderhorst’s own enigmatic display, will earn them a luxurious draw, a notable mention in the heartbeat of Time.
Wildflower is a tribute to the persuasion and will of the performer, a wildflower maybe, but one that in the centre of the large expanse of the untamed meadow, stands aloft the most precious flower of them all…life.
Derek Vanderhorst releases Wildflower on April 15th.
Ian D. Hall