Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Delicate by name, hardy by nature, Lyndsey Gillett covers the bases with her latest song of the elusive and seemingly fragile and yet within the framework of the song, within the power that leads you by the hand into a realm, a world of the faint and the tantalising, there is no room, no hidden crack in which Delicate becomes flimsy, out of control or desperately insubstantial; this is the voice of the gracefully robust and the balanced. Delicate by name but as tough as a Chicago Cubs fan doggedly hanging onto the possibility of seeing their team finally making the World Series one year in their lifetime.

To carry of the delicate, one must always be focused, mentally strong and full of desire, it is the stout retort to a world that judges you if you don’t appear to be playing to its rules, that slaps you for showing signs of not being tough, the fateful and despicable hangover from a Victorian era that only cared about winning and not on the state of its people. It is the strong who can show compassion in their approach to art and Lyndsey Gillett displays and honours that emotion in the song.

The expression of Delicate is far from being perceived as the fragile asking for a moment to express themselves, it is the forceful negotiation, the slight hint of provocation in the words that hits home and is full of released frustration in its imploring nature, the sensitive and insightful biting back but always ready with the bandage and the soothing phrased ointment that caresses the mutual sounding board.

Lyndsey Gillett is a voice to hear, to allow access to your own delicate nature that you may keep forcibly hidden from fear or from temptation, a soothing tone but one that carries heavy and loaded words, a delight for the vulnerable to hear such expression and a terror for the supposed indestructible to be wary of.

Ian D. Hall