Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
To evolve is to never stand still and be sucked in by the glories of the past, to not give way to the static and constantly biting inactivity which preludes fading away in the minds of others. Some evolve through necessity, some through choice and some, rare beings of personal truth, do it because it is the right thing to do, to them being fresh is to reject the inevitable stagnation that comes with age and the growing boredom. It is a boredom rejected fully and with acoustic skill by Carl Moorcroft and his reflection of musical evolvement; On The Road.
It can be infuriating that people never see the journey, only the end result, that their initial point of contact with any artist is such where they take up the narrative of the person and then go from there; any deviation along the line and they slowly lose interest, then ultimately, like moths drawn to a new flame in the dark sky, flutter off and leave the artist to stare into the abyss of lost potential.
On The Road suggests freedom in being able to evolve, in being mobile in creativity and whilst retaining the glory of initial contact, to be able to change, to withstand the criticism of transformation, and it is a freedom to be appreciative of and savour, the flash of the electric buzzer that draws the moths in soon cuts short those to whom cannot take joy in elation of growth.
The songs that mean something deeply personal to the musician are those that are able to transform into a genre that may take the fancy of the artist and in the tracks Tea or Coffee, Judgement, Deep Fried and the excellent All About Me, Carl Moorcroft plays out life as if taking the words of Jack Kerouac to task, as if the subtlety of performance is not to be lost in the down beat and the whimsical but instead to be boisterous and compelling, to be forceful and strong; no matter if the songs were originally painted on a different canvas, they now hang in a more perfect spotlight suited to their colour and shade.
An album that captures Carl Moorcroft superbly well, the hitchhiker is On The Road and has a great many stories to tell.
Carl Moorcroft’s On the Road is available via Antipop Records on August 5th.
Ian D. Hall