Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Great people are forged in times of indecision and recklessness, in times of fire, but those who come to be a vision of the illustrious in the minds of the public are rarely seen in the temporary light, and never in the moment of a fair-weather change of topical discussion. Such is the attitude of Meanwhile…that the moment where the listener expects the sudden change of pace from that of the miserable and beige average that they had been used to from others, to the enlightening and joyful during the serious conversation.
Meanwhile is never truly a shift away from the narrative, it is the contextual administration of pondering thought and belief, of putting the counter argument forwards and allowing words to shift, to blow the epic into view, whilst not losing sight of the demonstration of ability that comes with fortitude from the artist in question.
There are few like Terence Blacker, satire at its finest in song, profound and earnest in the song’s delivery, strikingly independent of thought, and one willing to work with a theme that does not fall into the fluid motion of the concept, but who would not dismiss it out of hand if it made someone strike a smile in the right direction.
In Meanwhile…the fifth studio album to come from the mind and fierce skill of Mr. Blacker, the sense of uniqueness is once more revealed, a writer who will not be cowed by the occasion, a musician to whom the drama and exploitation of the instrument is worth every moment in the sun, and it is with a blazing heart and cheerful countenance that the album is huge, unbelievably gigantic affair.
Across tracks such Other People’s Lives, the sublime My Little Blue Book, The Couple Next Door, The Way Of The World, the subtly in reflection that comes with Moanin’ Joe, and the absolutely top notch Everyday Hero, Terence Blacker’s observational skills know no boundaries, everything is up for discussion, nothing is left out in the cold, and the effect is one of joyous repartee, of wordplay jousting, of images propelled into the arena without delay or sacrifice.
Terence Blacker has been one of the great finds musically in a long while, and he continues to impress, to divulge entertaining grooves, Meanwhile…ignore the bleakness of our times and find yourself in Mr. Blacker’s company, for the day calls for such illustrious notions to be held and preserved.
Terence Blacker releases Meanwhile…on December 2nd.
Ian D. Hall