Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
As we grow older, we often forget that it is our right to choose, that the heroines and heroes we look up to are nobody’s business but our own, that the way we live our lives, the hobbies, the personal items, the places we see and things we do, as long as we are not hurting someone else in the process, are our own validated memories to keep. The same goes for others, we have no right to implore our lives and likes onto them, for they stand also by the mantra, of Those They Chose.
A woman of substance has all the right to choose, her own take and opinion on life, her sense of self and identity and above all, her own song, the tune she marches to, the melody she loves and lives by. It is the melody and song that has carried across the work of Sheila K. Cameron and one that sees some favourites take shape, boldly put forward with ease and a beautiful voice intent as part of the Women of Substance radio programme and the songs of Ms. Cameron’s that they themselves chose to play.
Whilst the songs can be found on some of the re-released C.D.s that have been greatly received and admired over the last couple of years, what this compilation does is give another level of appreciation, of significant value to the work and lyrical poetry that Ms. Cameron is able to weave like a memory blanket, not a stitch dropped or out of place.
Across the album, songs such As You Wrapped The String, I looked Alright This Morning, With You In My Life, the excellent You Don’t Know My Mind, All You Really Need Is The Sea and Where The Last Tide Runs, Ms. Cameron and the Women of Substance are intrinsically linked, for there is no doubt that once you listen to the music, the subtle turn of phrase by this particular artist, that the vital ingredient to life, the spark of ingenuity and creativity, combine so well that it is hard to imagine your own right to choose not being influenced by this woman of substance.
Those They Chose is a particularly satisfying retrospective of Ms. Cameron’s outlook on life, her own choices of expression, never faltering, always enhancing, have opened yet another avenue in which to explore.
Ian D. Hall