Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Hearsay is all well and good, but if you want the truth, you go directly to the source.
The debut album is always one that captures the spirit of what went before, the old adage of it being a reflection of your life up until the moment it is released, no matter how old the artist, or even what genre they put their thoughts out into the world from, the debut is important, it is the standard bearer for what is come.
That said, the follow up, the second release of any artist is the true benchmark of the genius that is being unfolded before the senses of the audience, and for Roxanne de Bastion that sincerity of production and feeling is captured in the 2021 release You & Me, We Are The Same.
If Heirlooms & Hearsay proclaimed proudly what eager and spellbound audiences had already been privy too, then You & Me, We Are The Same has cemented the love for the physical presence of the outstanding musician and lyric writer.
That proclamation which was stated with glorious intent when she first started appearing before crowds and which has followed her natural upward progression, is once more unveiled as a reveal of truth. It is Roxanne’s observation, carried by a voice that breaks your heart with the love that comes pouring out, and replenishes the soul in the same sweeping moment that acts as a counter punch of expectancy and dream like persuasion, that tracks such as I Remember Everything, Delete Forget Repeat, Erase, Smoke, the melancholic beauty that comes from London, I Miss You, and the final song on the album, The Weight, all are filled with swirling tides of grace, focus and spirit like energy that has so far guided the Berlin based musician.
The true source of anyone’s time on Earth is from the individual themselves, gossip is for those with too much time on their hands and dissent in their hearts; and whilst we should not forget the hearsays and heirlooms that act as baggage and belongings of a former time, we must acknowledge that there are some artists that act as muses to our souls, that they insist we can share in the belief, for after all You & Me, We Are The Same is truism worth embracing.
Ian D. Hall