Soo Line Loons. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The world says, “Be true to yourself”, and the spoken message that goes unnoticed after whispers, “and hang the consequences”.

The problem with passion and talent is that on occasion those that urge you to succeed, often feel neglected by your absence when you start making headway into your chosen field of creativity. It is the one direction railroad that takes you far from home, leaving the past, quite often, behind and wondering where you moved on to.

It is the urge to see what lays beyond the narrow comforts of the familiar that drives us onwards, the pursuit in one lifetime to explore every possibility and option available to us, and if we have something to offer to facilitate that exchange then all the better; and yet some will take Umbridge with the journey, they will see it as the unnamed betrayal, an escape, but they will never admit it is their issue, and not what you have managed to fulfil a life’s promise to see the world as a canvas in which to create astonishing beauty.

It is to that canvas and beauty of adventure and craftsmanship that Soo Line Loons release their eponymously titled third album. The canvas is not blank, or partly filled in with hope and faith, it is though one that has the delight of the delicately balanced brush strokes of art weaved intimately throughout, and as Grant Glad, Erik Loftsgaarden, Robin Hatterschide, Kristi Hatterschide, Sam Hall, Matthew Fox push through tracks such as Can’t Stop Singing The Blues, Die Young, Don’t Let Me Go, What They Don’t Tell You and Amen, all that courage, the anticipation of the collective whole making music together, is nothing short of inspiring, of being an album for all.

The refreshing confidence that is evident throughout is enough to make the listener not only sit and take notice, but to cheer them on, not only urging them to be maintain this truth they have adapted but nodding wisely that they know they might have to share them with the world. People often forget that the train track doesn’t just go one way, it offers a chance to return, if needed, to spread the word to others that beyond the horizon lays promise, potential and the finest of possibilities.

A terrifically produced album, Soo Line Loons should be understandably proud of their achievement and their vision.

Soo Line Loons release the eponymously titled third album on May 14th.

Ian D. Hall