Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The anger one feels at the injustice of the world can either manifest itself as deliberate inaction or more honestly, as the roar of the wild echoing across Time; it is a simple truth that the greatest of Welsh poets urged his readers to not go into the light gently, that rage is the right of those who are left behind as they deal with the grief and love. Anger after all is just another expression of love, an energy that is unrequited and one that needs to be handled with care; that can be softened by art.
It is a rage and beautiful rebalancing of nature that sees Liverpool based Alex Hulme take his new single, Family Tree, and make the world scream with him, make it purr like a tamed panther by a enigmatic and powerful waterfall and give grace to all who seek such sanctuary in the darkest of times.
We all have a Family Tree, we all have those whose leaves have become entangled in the roots and no longer spread out over Time and soil, yet Alex Hulme, no stranger to making crowds truly appreciate the depth of lyric writing he is more than capable of delivering, speaks of it in such poetic terms, not down at heel or soft soaped poetry but majestic, forceful and conquering, the type of poetry that is a call to arms and sees the peeling of the iron bell become so terrifying as it calls all to bear witness.
It is in that sense of the majestic that the desperation of his plea shines, a desperately sad lament but one that is carried by a voice of reason, the punishment he carries as the song comes to its natural but hard hitting conclusion is heart breaking but sincere and the listener understands just how much grief we can carry in our heart but how very human it is to scream at the Universe, to shake a fist in rage but then remember the good times; for it is in the Family Tree, whether by social design or by how we make it, that sees our own trunk, our bark, our layered leafed canopy, gain strength and resolution.
A tremendous track by Alex Hulme, Family Tree is a song of distinction.
Family Tree is released on the 28th April.
Ian D. Hall