Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Certain people will see loss through the eyes of the indifferent, they will feel nothing for the person to whom their world has broken, perhaps shattered in ways that we cannot ever contemplate; however, people that show such truths upon their face and allow their hearts to become bitter will ultimately be wary when the winds of change blow with the icy stare of an Arctic freeze through their veins.

If only life was poetic then we could envisage those who see themselves in such a way of aloofness as being the focus for when The Winds Will Change Again in favour of those whose sleeves are sodden with the grief of others, and to whom it is only fitting that the incredible sounds created by The Twangtown Paramours should find a way to add to the resilience of the sufferer, and give a musical sense of armour to those in need of resisting chaotic times.

We must understand that loss is inevitable, and as we have lived through the most damaging time of the last hundred years in such a short while, with loss must come life; and this is what the naysayers never contemplate, but to which the songs of their new album, The Winds Will Change Again, expertly weave with honour and drama within each resounding vocal relief.

It is to humour that Mike T. Lewis and MaryBeth Zamer combine and especially inn the opening track, Sincerely Yours No More, which sets the standard across this gorgeously detailed and alluring album. The listener cannot help but feel the words of parents who would have said that pulling a face in the wind will cause it to stick, allowing the satisfaction derived from the album to imagine the haters and doom embracers with their faces caught in an expression of misery as the beautiful music and deeply satisfying lyrics gives others a reason to feel lifted and in touch with their humanity.

With Jim Van Cleve, Rick Lonow, Rave Tesar, Ed Alstom, and Jeff Talor adding their own flair and distinctive flavour to the overall effect of the album, and as tracks such as the opener A Room In Bordeaux, Before She Found A Way, Stars Without a Heaven, Showin’ Off For Their Girlfriends, the melancholy caught in the passage of Old Friends, Tonight I Think I Wanna Go Downtown, and the album title track, The Wind Will Change Again, a special warmth enthuses the listener, and the relief felt by the soul as they know someone is speaking on their behalf is palpable and physically, intensely evident.

A thoroughly enlightening, and enjoyable album, the winds of change are substantial and gladly profound.

Ian D. Hall