Connie Lush, Renaissance. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Life should always be about revival, about being able to re-invent yourself every so often or being able to offer a new point of view to the values you hold dear to your heart; Renaissance is being able to learn from that, that the function and ability to want to understand more of the world and your place within it, is paramount to having lived a full and meaningful life.

Connie Lush typifies the feeling of being revitalised, of hearing her distinctive voice almost in a different and powerful way each time she releases a new selection of songs and it is to be felt with absolute keenness of spirit as the ride of musical experience begins again in earnest and full frank hymn like style.

The emotion of the album is such that the hymn, not some admiration towards an unknown entity but as some admission of love to the spirit of endeavour that lives within us all, the hymn is a moment of sensitivity and human experience that offers up praise to the belief that every adversity can be overcome and every set back is another way of offering a pause to reflect on if it is the right way to proceed. It is that overcoming of difficulty that makes us who were are and Ms. Lush captures that fully and without hesitation; it is the misfortune of others to not hear the message of hope played out.

Joined by the excellent Steve Wright, Roy Martin and her long time partner Terry Harris, Ms. Lush brings the songs to fruition as if they had been boiling under the musical surface for years, just waiting for the right opportunity in which to grab the attention of the listener and make them truly understand the sentiment that comes with such reflection.

Tracks such as Blame (It All On Me), the astonishingly forthright I Don’t Say Goodbye, Give Me A Minute and I Can’t Make You Love Me all release the valve and let the steam of other’s decline evaporate into the ether, this is a resurgence of spirit that works both ways and it is vital to the listener’s understanding of themselves that they take on board the underlying message of security that comes from such a prestigious vocalist.

Ian D. Hall