Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

We look to the ashes of a controlled fire in the warmth of a home and feel the cold memories of a dark morning fill our minds, regret of having let the fire go out, of our struggle to reignite the day ahead…where Embers lay though, we should find the will to harness the energy and be buoyed and enthused about seeing the flames of decision and the heat of life cause the wood to burn and our skin to become warm to the touch from those that love and care for us.

Embers is the searing and hauntingly beautiful album from Bergman, and in its delivery lays the prowess of a poet driven by love and mystery, by ferocity of will and drive, and to whom sees embers not as final remains of another day, but the positivity of having seen life, and in those sparks that glow comes the belief that the future holds sway over our hearts, that the fire will always return.

It takes enormity of spirit to bring two genres together, a distinction of love no doubt, but also a passion to have a cake in your possession and find yourself serving generous portions to you and an unknown friend and equally being delighted by how the mixture works so well; how the taste is one you unexpectedly savour.

Across tracks such as Queen Emma And The Poll Tax Riots, I Hear You’re Northern Too, the superb You Look So Pretty While You Dig My Grave, Forever Is Coming Too Soon, and the album title track of Embers, the acoustic melding of Progressive Rock doesn’t just thrill the soul, it leaves a heavy stamp of cultural appreciation deep under the skin, almost like an addiction, you cannot wait to sample more.

Bergman’s desire shows throughout this tremendous and exciting recording, it is a flavoursome entity, one cooked over the white heat of insistence and polished off in style. Embers are not the end of a fire, but absolutely the means in which they can bring life once more to where the hearth and the heart matter.

Ian D. Hall