Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
The duality of the soul is not a complex argument to understand, the very nature of human existence relies on being able to see both sides of a story, to see through the forces of the darkness and the light, both equal opportunists when it comes claiming the soul of anyone, is to know of the cosmic intent of life itself. Collectively or individually, we are no more the ship cascading on broken waves at sea than we are the guiding beam from the Lighthouse On The Shore, but we are the amalgam of the two, and it is in that where reaction to the rocky times ahead are met with certainty and trepidation at the same time.
A release of two dynamics on the same day, two albums, twins, not identical but with the D.N.A. of the other weaves in waves in each other, this is how the excellent Michael McDermott has navigated the course that has in the past been peered into by the likes of Guns N Roses and Tom Waits, and the way the musician has provided insight into two distinctive streams of thought are to be applauded, to be appreciated, to be acknowledged with a nod of genius.
Joining Michael McDermott on the album are Heather Lynne Horton, Matt Thompson, Will Kimbrough, John Deaderick, and Katie Burn, and as electric bass mixes with the subtle beauty of piano and fiddle with an appetite of illumination, so the lighthouse, the monument to safe travel and continued presence, reveals itself with strong emotions that exemplify tracks such as Nothing Changes, I Am Not My Father, the quality of impression in Where God Never Goes, Count Your Blessings, and the album title track of Lighthouse On The Shore
To take in this set of songs, and its musical twin of East Jesus, Michael McDermott has worked with the passion and the sweat of expectation in such a way that each song’s dynamic is fruitful, aware, and filled with a grace that shines across even the most tempestuous of seas.
Michael McDermott releases Lighthouse On The Shore on 13th September on Pauper Sky Records.
Ian D. Hall