Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
What we might perceive as Hell is only that which soon reveals itself to be salvation, the gateway to a higher plane of existence, a moment in which the light is noticed as a giver and not as first thought, a deceiver, an instrument of denial.
We all have that trepidation within us, the new and novel acting as a springboard as the unknown marches onwards, will the experience be as bold, be as exciting, influential as before, or will it be the great denier, the false hope of light that shines, not as a beacon setting the sky on fire, but a reflection of another flame, that of the ones derived from our minds where hope and loss interchange with each other’s frequencies and grapple with the idea of damage control.
There is no such need for trepidation when it comes to one of Liverpool’s finest young musicians of recent years, the incomparable Elijah James And The Nightmares, and in the new scintillating, expressive, and sheer absolute bliss of the latest album, The Hellish Bending Towards The Light, what comes through is the essence of continuation, that never a beat is dropped, never a note or vocal interpretation lost upon the reflex or the soul of the listener. This is the stuff of angels praising human expression, the light a gift of memory and direction, and Hell…Hell is for others who lose sight of their dignity, their poetic reasoning, and all who seek untold fortune.
The album has had excellent grounding, the singles released before hand act as trumpets of rejoicing before the main event, and what an occasion it is to be in the same room as the light, leaving the metaphorical Hell behind as the dramatic voice, akin to listening to the likes of Richard Burton for example, erudite, distinctive, powerful, leaves its timely mark on the imagination.
Light encompasses all, it cleanses, it reveals, it purifies, and there is no escaping the drama of light as tracks such as Out of The Woodwork, Another Sunny Day, Starry-Eyed Kid (With My Head In The Clouds) and the excellent My Very Own Time Machine join the previously released singles The Coroner’s Report and Man In The Diner in the open, not just taking a bow in the limelight, but seeing the name rightfully, respectively, emblazoned across the sky.
Never fear the release of fortune from the depths of a solid performer’s soul, for in The Hellish Bending Towards The Light comes sanctuary, comes illumination, and sincere heaven.
Ian D. Hall