Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

In Time and a word, we find the sense of new beginnings, we find the division between what was, and what might come next, a four-letter word that creates the fine line between past and the future and in which the moment in between is all we can hope as we focus our senses on change, on altering the narrative of expression that has thus so far guided us.

Anno, a word that can be seen as fearsome, its place in biblical text, in the shaping of our current era dominates when we observe its use, hides a simpler understanding, that of transformation, of the upheaval of revolution, and whilst the current era of humanity is attacked from all sides, by pestilence, by war, by ignorance, we should think considerably and with debate on how we require revolution to move us onwards.

Revolution comes from smallest of sounds, the whispers that catch our attention as the tiniest of rain drops hitting our skin can testify to the oncoming storm, and so it is to art, and for Dominie Hooper and her debut solo E.P., Anno, that sense of musical mutiny is captured by the raging fire within the heart of the performer; it may be whispered, but it is indeed fierce.

Across the four tracks that make up the E.P., Lungful, Seed, Dandelion, and Fuel, Dominie Hooper, as well as her hand-picked collaborators on the recording, Corrie Dick, Mikey Kenney, and Phil Self, weaves resilience to a world overwhelmed in the wake of tragedy, a calming reassurance placed in the hands of the listener, and to whom the examination of culture, of mental health and human sexuality is one of constant and rightful observation.

The industry behind this Dartmoor born artist is one of emotional freedom, and as the four songs filter through the stoniest of hearts, so the revolution can be seen to take shape, and in Anno, a new beginning is to be seen being born.

Beautiful, challenging, fruitful, Dominie Hooper’s debut solo E.P. is captivating.

Ian D. Hall