Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

You don’t expect to go through life, whether it is in the hope of muddling through, or with the clear objective plan which is subject to the whims of the gods and to those who will pull the rug from under your feet without even a casual hello, without some kind of change being offered to us, enforced at us, to expect the remains to be always the same is to witness life as if you were made of Wax, an unmoving figure, blank eyed, the only expression to be ever be seen, moulded by the hands of another.

Change, a small indication across your life that you are willing, open to the elements that come into being, the umbrella held on a sunny day when you hope a downpour will add a fresh smell to the air, the five minutes of rest and a welcome cup of tea in a day of exploring the uncharted and unfathomable; to be open to such minor adjustments is to know you can handle what may seem the larger revolution, and for some that unexpected outcome can be too much to bear.

Not so for KT Tunstall, a woman of brave encounters in the musical sphere, a musician who never allows the wax to become still, solidified, moulded into a shape that is unrecognisable. For her, Wax is meant to be liquid, changeable, transformable, and it has always come across in her music, in her demeanour, and whilst some might shy away from that forceful willingness to transform appearance or style slightly from album to album, to take on the challenge of something new, others embrace it, and see without doubt exactly what it does to someone such as Ms. Tunstall and her growing prowess as one of the country’s leading song-writers.

Wax is malleable, supple, in the right hands it is full of impression, and it is in that impression that once again KT Tunstall offers yet another side of her song-writing, her vision and observance. In songs such as Human Being, The Mountain, Dark Side Of Me, Poison In Your Cup and The Night Bowie Died, the musician gives a performance that is full of empathy, but also strong-willed, almost rigid with strength, a new shade perhaps of expression, a foundation of further character and the playfulness of the songs entailed.

A surprise perhaps for some, but one that must surely be welcomed, for in this new album, the listener could truly Wax lyrical about KT Tunstall.

Ian D. Hall