Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

We look to the stars to fuel our imagination, but it is the sea which holds the true mysteries of our soul intact. Humanity’ affinity with the sea has stretched back long before the ability to document recorded history gave us a sense of purpose and place in the universe.

It is the giver and taker of life, it is the cradle and the graveyard, the melody and the tale which has brought communities together, it is the damnation and the isolation which has caused us distress, the loss and the hope of all things; and in discovery of new lands thanks to the ability to navigate the oceans, we are offered the chance to learn, to witness new ways to utilise and understand how to be better.

The ballads that await as we leave the safety of the shore, the bounty that is coveted once we acknowledge the waves beneath our vessel, that is the inspiration that comes hand in hand with beauty and fierce adventure, and one that fills the room and the mind to the point of exotic composition, one whilst rooted in the narrative of the deep, is one of universal belief.

Nobody’s Wolf Child’s haunting sound, a siren like call to the unarmed and the unknowing, is one of its own majesty and mystery, and one that frees up feelings that have long laid dormant in the hearts of the listener, and in her five strong songs, epics in their own right, the sense of longing, loneliness, celebration, and return, all combine to give Erbsa’s Songs Of The Sea its rightful joyous musical triumph.

The five song strong E.P., containing the tracks 10,000 White Horses, Selkie, Song To The Siren, Secrets and Seabirds, and A Drop Of Stranger’s Blood, is one of resolution, of extreme charm and an in depth Memento Mori which sweeps the listener off their feet, torn from their preconceived notions of how emotional resonance is more than a keepsake, it is to be held as delicate as time itself and treasured as such.

Nobody’s Wolf Child excels as the driving force of this homage to that which surrounds us, which we look to keep us safe from disease and invasion, but which also carries the message of progress within. A highly desirable E.P., Erbsa’s Songs Of The Sea is a mystery unveiled.

Ian D. Hall