Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
When you have Nothing To Lose the world suddenly becomes one of clarity and freedom.
It is with overwhelming sadness that we see that clarity and freedom now as one of a loss of the physical aspect, the photo albums that no longer hold pictures of those who made us laugh or feel safe in their company, the empty shelves that failed to hold to treasures of the imagination, the friendships formed in the ether with no corporeal measure of presence, we are in a sense purely ghosts in a suit of flesh waiting for the emptiness of modern life to cease.
We have nothing now to lose because nothing is truly ours, not even in a custodial sense, everything has been minimised, reduced to the ethereal, lessened to the point where our admiration is on brutally on loan and fleeting. To see it is to understand it, to feel the sentiment taken of a photograph handily placed on a screen rather than given respectful prominence in a large album, is to grasp that our lives now have lost the clarity of existence.
It takes effort and perseverance of the soul to stand firm against this loss, to build a home surrounded by the memories, and to hold in your hand that which you cannot bear to be without, and as the Australian folk duo of Hollow Coves, Matt Carins and Ryan Henderson, return after a sizeable time away from the studio, so the listener is treated to reality, a physical pleasure of song and thought that the pair have been renowned and celebrated for.
Tracks such as Milk & Honey, Harder To Fake It, On The Way, Fact Or Fiction, and the bookended tracks of Nothing To Lose and See You Soon amplify their belief and mission, the verse of time exploding with dignity as they urge the listener to never allow their life to become so digitised that they are in danger of being seen as a number and not a complex human being with needs of the naturally occurring tangible in their hearts.
A terrifically balanced and responsive return to the studio from Hollow Cloves, all the right emotions given their absolute due.
Hollow Coves release Nothing To Lose on March 1st via Nettwerk Label.
Ian D. Hall