Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
A Poet will sing such sweet serenades to their love, whilst always making eyes at another Muse, their belief of their own structured mortality allows them to fall in love whilst never chasing the final act, the courtship being an unrivalled sentence to the finality offered by the closed off chapter and succession in what they would term conquering the affections in Numberless Dreams.
Surrounding herself with an array of positivity, poetic beauty and a quartet of players that take to the session and the music as if granted extra passion by the Gods of music, Julie Abbe has created a piece of art to which only The Waterboys had arguably successfully done before, to feel the Muse that imbibed W.B. Yeates with all his suffering, all his angst, fears and creativity, and turn the words once more into inspiration and joy; a belief that the Muse can turn the Poet to dust and stand true in a world of realism and no-conformity.
With Sid Goldsmith and Dominic Hooper providing the sensation to Julie Abbe’s salvation plus Amy Cox and Izzy Budd providing backing vocals across two of the songs for the album; Julie Abbe successfully adapts the idea of some of the renowned Poet’s works and engages with the listener further with the constant insight into the traditional and the working mechanics of Folk music.
Across tantalising songs and reminisces such as Courting Is Pleasure, Flower of Magherally, Stolen Child, Eighteen Years Old and the album opener of A Poet To His Beloved, Julie Abbe captures the two restless hearts of introspection without harming the source, indeed in Numberless Dreams, the listener is granted a moment of rare pleasure, that of the ignited vision of the poet given an extra life by one who also saw the Muse smile.
An intelligently written, softly delivered album, Numberless Dreams is the art of wooing through one’s own voice whilst acknowledging the art of one whose expression matches the level of genius. Absolutely stimulating.
Julie Abbe releases Numberless Dreams on January 29th.
Ian D. Hall