Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Alliteration can be seen in some hands as a clumsy side effect of pretention, but in the hands of a true lover of human expression, observation, and sound, it is a heartbeat that cannot, must not, be ignored, for it is the prelude of the beauty of articulation that brings power to the performance and meaning to the soul.

The alliterative title of Rob Clarke’s three strong song maxi release, Blues Beats and Brel is one that sets the tone with a special resonance for the listener, and the tracks themselves are achingly cool and feel the surrounds with a generous and unrepentant heart.

That heart, that presence is always announced by one of Liverpool’s musically favourite explosive sons, never one to shy from a challenge, Rob Clarke’s latest passion has found the artist taking perhaps a different route to tickling the souls of the always intrigued fan; and it is one that not only works, it flows like champagne down the throat of the impassioned and heart felt touched.

The three tracks, She’s A Mean, Cheapskate, and Tik Tok encompass the digging down into what may seem like another realm for a man of music, but that is the point of exploration; it may fill the bones with trepidation, it may be perceived as a blip on the road of formal pride-filled release, but it must be attempted to fill the mind with courage so that expansion and further formation can be witnessed and appreciated.

A variation on brilliance, for that is what transpires in this magnificently produced maxi single release. A moment of fascination, fashionable, a tenderness of fulsome praise for a fellow willing to ignore favour in the search for new avenues to inhabit.  

Ian D. Hall