Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
If we are to endure and thrive as a species, we must look further than our own home as a means of survival, we must continue to stride onwards, to take that often secluded Journey Into Space and seek out companionship in the darkness, in the void of that which surrounds us.
To ignore the beauty of what is directly above, to not want to see what lays beyond the clouds and reflective blue, is to not feel the inspiration that the heavens create with a sense of majesty and mystery. That inspiration is always there, it is deeply embedded within us, and to take that step is to understand that we are captivated by endearing magnificence and the persistence of Time itself.
Time and space, all that an artist can seize with a flourish when the mood, the muse and inspiration combine, and for Liverpool’s Neil Campbell, that sense of heavenly delight, the belief in being guided by the unseen hand, is for all to witness as he returns with another comprehensive and fulfilling listen as he undertakes, via music, his own Journey Into Space.
Class and classic, a melding of interpersonal beliefs, and dwelling with an unashamed sense of aural attraction, Neil Campbell’s interlocking pieces of music frame his ability with honour, and as with his rapidly expanding back catalogue, that delving into space is extensive and robustly dramatic.
There is perhaps a moral sense of the progressive behind the album, and as tracks such as Amino, Laces, Phases, Denude, and Aged fill the void, it is possible to think of both isolation and companionship within the same moment, the merging of life beyond our planet and what our responsibilities to those we leave behind…This is the control examined and given prominence as Neil Campbell returns once more to our field of vision and eclipses all that shelters in the darkness, all that lives in the realm of light with passion and precision of thought.
A sparkling addition to the musician’s endeavours, an album of weight and consideration…and album you cannot help but feel the force of Time within.
Ian D. Hall