Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
When an album has the feel of a concept perfectly weaved through it, and yet does not have the final essence that gives it that stamp of recognition, that is the sign of total mastery by the artist, and arguably what might be considered the best album of a career because of it.
Toyah, the undisputed Queen of Birmingham’s gig theatre experience, stepped out of the adulation received for the album Anthem, and perhaps found a different way to express her own feelings, her emotions, and turned the poetry and art within her rage to one which is almost Progressive, beyond verse, it is punk but with an extra emotional drama attached to it.
The Changeling is impressive as it is raw, it is the anger and dichotomy of existence of being a performer and being reserved when in reflection, and in a final bow of the studio group as a whole, it is an album of dramatic finesse that sees the woman from Kings Heath tackle demons with sincerity and heartfelt warrior class.
From the opening of Creepy Room and Street Creature, the scene is set on a combination of songs that growl with infamy and prowl and stalk the emotions of the listener like a panther in darkness in search of prey.
Joel Bogen, Andy Clark, Phil Spalding, and Simon Phillips add heat to the ferocity of Toyah’s vocals and as tracks such as the amazing The Druids, Life In The Trees, Angel & Me, and Castaways play with imagery and language, with determination and fire, and it is glorious to the extreme, and melancholic in its powerful enthused animation.
What came before, whilst intelligent, belligerent, fantastic, was merely a prelude, and arguably provided Ms. Willcox the framing of what was to come, and that insight of moving beyond the trailblazing 70s sensational start is why she has been at the forefront of British musical freedom of expression ever since.
The Changeling is a reminder that we must alter our outlook occasionally if we are to progress, and what a way to frame that feeling but with an album of intense pleasure and feeling.
Ian D. Hall