Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Relationships, no matter how long they have been going, are apt once in a while to find the spark of energy that first brought the two souls together, running low on fuel. It is nobody’s fault, it is the way of the world, people change, people find new ways to express themselves and rather than pouring crude oil on the waters what they perhaps need is a little enlightenment, a little Paraffin to light the way to the next chapter.

The new single from Meadowlark, the fascinating and spacious Paraffin, is that kind of illumination, the type of sympathetic glow in the dark that many miss because they are searching in vain for the enormous flattering bonfire to point the way rather than the small homely glow offered by a paraffin lamp, the small blue flame that gives off the odour of sincerity and the truthfully appealing; it is the appeal of the voice that haunts the single like a moth drawn to the light, it knows that it will get singed but it will resolutely keep its heart thumping for the image that lays before it.

The arrangement that flows between Kate McGill and Daniel Broadley is warm, tender but also one that interrupts the other thoughts going on in the back of the mind, it is temptation in finding it trying to dominate the opinions going on the head that bring it firmly to the forefront of discussion and whether the listen enjoys the music or not, it is there, munching away, sitting in the corner with a sense of serenity attached to it.

Paraffin is resolute, it is a gesture of good will that stretches out before the launch of the duo’s new E.P. and it is one that might sharply divide the public; however it is also one that captures a certain energy, a large spark of glimmering hope and for that alone it has the legs to run, to run faster than the lamp can muster. Meadowlark open the negotiations on the opening of their own relationship and it is one that is enjoyable and thriving.

Ian D. Hall