Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The relationship we have with ourselves is as important as those we have with other people, the environment we create has to cater to the soul we nurture as well as making sure it is as habitable, comforting, and welcoming as possible…we can be anybody’s friend in such circumstance, but we must also be our own companion during testing times, willing to listen to the concerns in our mind that manifest in the darkness; but above all in our concerns for the future generations to be a friend of our planet, an Earth Mate if you will.
Julia Fordham’s prowess, her ability, her genuine musical charm and voice that is sensual and powerful, these attributes have always served her well in the public gaze, and yet refreshingly the humility of the self has always been the driving force of her time in front of the audience as she performs iconic and new songs in forceful, equal measure.
In her brand-new, and profoundly understood album, Earth Mate, the continuous evolution and examination of her art, her insight to the human heart and soul, is once more to be taken with delight, to be held with such a tight embrace that every word is felt, is earned with each breathe taken and each note played.
The album, which is arranged in such a way that the live setting in which it is placed, conjures the magic spell of artistic response to a period of time in which we may find ourselves, one that can happen and descend upon us at any age, but which at a certain time of life we have the physicality of spirit to understand our relationship with the feelings they touch upon.
Julie Fordham has once again striven, given everything she has to the sound and creation of the album in full and as the emotions of each one, whether in the form of the absolute beauty of Everest, Sugar Water, the opener of Home (If This Is What Love Is), the duos of Done & Dusted and Smile & Frown, with Ryan O’ Shaughnessy and Greg Johnson respectively, Minor Victories, and the album title track of Earth Mate, combine to offer with respect an empathetic voice of reason to the listener.
This is an album of the heartfelt and the substantial, the span of three decades as one of the most enjoyed performers on stage from the British shores is one that may seem effortless, but which is an earthquake, a tidal storm of emotional unity that is a testament to the beauty within the soul forcing its way to the surface; one in which Julia Fordham expressive display of voice and musicality excels as always.
Julia Fordham comes to the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall’s Music Rooms on November 7th.
Ian D. Hall