Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

We are living in a time of dichotomy and a reversal of logic, the period on which historians will argue that despite all reason, all comprehension, we are allowing the minds of people to become closed and void of sensible judgement, and nations to become insular, less tolerant, less respectful to their neighbours and the world. Margins are drawn, fences to hold back reasonable debate are installed and guarded by those whose hearts are dipped in the black ink of old belief; too these tarnished souls, the frontier gained is enough, to the rest of us, the new age has proved we no longer live on the fringes, that there should be No Borders.

No Borders, the dream of personal endeavour, of artistic intent, to be able to perform and make belief tangible, organic, it is what we all deep down we aspire to convey in our words, but all too often it gets bogged down in the mire of those who shout loudest, and not with the truth of the age in their minds.

It is a truth that is presented with great relief by Iain Thomson, and long-time friend and musician Marc Duff, as they tear down perimeter fences and write with great care and compassion about the hardship faced those to leave their lands, and their homes, when they have been displaced by forces of capitalism and government control. It is a story, age-old and one that has never changed, one that will never alter without a shift in attitude, without recompense to the past as well our futures, and it is in such writing, such poetic voice, that the debt we owe could soon be in sight to repay.

Iain Thomson and Marc Duff’s collaboration is harmonious, it is playful, but it is also steeped in the absolute truth, a pursuit of memory, of laying down a foundation to bring change and honour those who find themselves displaced, forced out of their own homes. In songs such as the opener All Our Stories, The Winter Wind Blows, Living On the Edge, The Long Road Home and Glendale Martyrs, the music is the dichotomy reflected, both powerful and soothing, it is the motto of the age, Aut Pax, Aut Bellum, either peace or war and it works beautifully.

No Borders, it is the only sensible option left to the world and Iain Thomson, and Marc Duff give it all they have to you.

Ian D. Hall