Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is something endlessly fascinating about hearing a set of songs that you know have been stripped down and given no treatment whatsoever except that of the genuine love and respect from the musician or band taking on the arrangements. That no extra appear, no overlapping of voices to dissuade the listener from taking an even keener approach to taking in the hopeful message or the downbeat regret that music offers. It is a fascination that sits well at the heart of Miranda Sykes’ and Rex Preston’s album The Watchmaker’s Wife.