Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
The Space Between Us is looked upon by some as a reason to wage war, that it is a division that is too wide to bridge, to reach across with open hands and challenge not in conflict, but in peace; and then there are those who see the space as a way to be filled by any means necessary to make contact, those open hands not just reaching out, but actively holding out for the belief that space is just a way to grow, to make the distance so small that our lives rightly overlap and be as one.
Space is divisive, politically, socially, it calls for isolation, it has historical connotations that still separates some from acknowledging the other’s right to exist, and it is understandably a feeling not easily overturned, but one, given the right nudge, the release of the artistic voice, can become so small, so inert that old, fractured convictions can be overwhelmed and made good.
Following on from the albums More Sinner Than Saint and Stripped Back, Rebecca Downes has with strength and principle stepped into the breach and stretched her soul to bring people together, that space dissipating as the album plays out, its raw courage pulling at the seams, until finally space is replaced by togetherness, by an intimacy of sound.
With contributions on the album from Neil Ablard, Nigel Darvill, and Vince Yarrington, tracks such as This Is How It Feels, the superb Terrorise, Lights Go Out, Four Leaf Clover, Not On My Knees, the sensational cover of Free’s A Little Bit Of Love and the album title track, The Space Between Us, the award winning songwriter from Wolverhampton doesn’t allow the dust to settle as she fights for the right for the space to be eradicated.
The voice of anger, the soothing tones of conciliation, the respect of difference, it is all there to be found and stunningly so in The Space Between Us. A passionate affair of music and art combining to take to task the way we have allowed ourselves to become separated from each other, an album seeking change, searching for truth, and finding it with honour. Rebecca Downes once more opens up her heart and others gladly follow.
Rebecca Downes’ The Space Between Us is out now and available from Mad Hat Records.
Ian D. Hall