Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
No matter what we do to keep ourselves in a manner of which we have become accustomed, sooner or later the itch of denial becomes too hard to ignore, and that which first illuminated our souls, soon comes back to call the tunes and light the path ahead.
Time may move on but it has a wonderful habit of returning us to a familiar place, the position in our lives where we made a conscious decision, where the road forked off in two, perhaps three directions, and whilst we took the right one for us at the time, the ghost of that choice remained intact; so much so that Time Stands Still long enough to allow us to reimagine those choices and a second chance of fulfilling the soul is adjudged to be fair, to be an option worth taking.
For Ronald MacDonald, a debut solo album is long overdue from the former member of Sidewinder, and in honoured tradition the birdsong of Time has called out, the images of the past treasures have come back to life and reintroduced a love that maybe he thought had its place and moved on.
Time is a harsh master to please, but it can be outlandish, it should be fruitful, and from its shadow we must emerge, energised, full of belief, and if we are offered the moment where took a path that saw us become comfortable, then so be it, this time we should confront and defeat the demons of relaxed fear and stride on to produce the heartbeat and reflection of our moment on Earth.
Across tracks such as Tell Me When, Skye High Blues, The Last Stand, It Happens Everyday, and the album title track of Time Stands Still, Ronald MacDonald shakes his own hand as he appears fully formed right next to the younger version who came across the split in the road, takes him by the shoulder and points to the second hand on his watch, after all Time will only stand still for a while, it is up to all of us to make sure we are in position when the time between the tick and the tock moves on.
An album of cheer and subtly, of grace and time itself, Ronald MacDonald has returned with aplomb to the music listener’s senses.
Ronald MacDonald’s Time Stands Still is out now and available from Birnam CD, as well as ronaldmcdonaldmusic.com.
Ian D. Hall