Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Life is about withstanding pressure, but we must remember that despite thinking of ourselves as diamonds, we are not coal to be forced to perform a miraculous physical alteration, a metamorphosis that sees us shine and gleam; we are human, the traits, the anxieties, the illusions, and the moments of brilliance are born of a different kind of pressure, one created by The Heat, but also the cold whispers of affection and love.

The grandness of its opening, the allusion to Fleetwood Mac, but most certainly compelled by the spirit of its two superb artists at the helm. Sam Shields and Dan Ryan, Visions of Albion have forged something direct and utterly beguiling in their latest single, The Heat.

The sound of an age being proclaimed perhaps, the joy of artistic movement unshackled from its bonds, or the mystical given life, for there is never a doubt that the stirring and overwhelming beauty of the pair’s music is caught with ever glowing satisfaction and finesse.

If instruments could talk, if they could sing without human interference then they would capture the essence of the single’s main vocal, a harmony of survival entrusted, deeply felt and exhibited as a series of enchantments weaved into existence to portray the honesty of human pain and suffering, but with that gilt edge gold expression that offers sentimental release; if only instruments could do that…and yet in the hands of Visions of Albion and those who care profoundly for the sound, the instruments, the communication they hold is there, they not only talk and sing, they illustrate the phenomenal with a statement boldly identified.

The Heat is undeniable, it is a single of maximum effort and yet simple in its objective, the beauty of its presence pays homage to humanity’s greater resilience and hope, and whilst we are forged by fire and the infernos of the heart, so we are given confidence in the songs we surround ourselves with; and for that Visions of Albion have all the faith in the world.

Ian D. Hall