Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
What blooms should be encouraged to keep growing, to keep performing and illuminating the passions of others. For what blooms more than that which is regarded with sincerity and belief, and which throws the whispers of the malcontent and jealous into disarray.
One does not regard the unkept, the shadow like wraith, and possibly to their own undoing, for each has its own potential and story to tell in this life, but the ones that find a way to flourish and thrive and inspire beauty, texture, colour and the wisdom of the finite, then there are those whose presence stirs your mind and the Wonderbloom they employ as you are caught by the song they sing.
The now Brooklyn-based singer weaves dreams through the elements and her dance infused R ‘n’ B stance follows suit, guiding, pulling aces from the air and installing a positive influence for the listener who might usually pull away from the genre into one of being musically supportive, a staunch beater of the drum as the marching band of her charm and skill becomes abundantly clear.
The album is specific in its own making, not only with the characters and contributors to the album’s inception and final delivery, but in the detail, from the way Becca Stevens herself was inspired by the wait of the blossom to bloom and through the electric consideration and pulse that brought songs such as Between Me & You, Charlemagne, I Will Avenge You, Feels Like This, Response To Criticism and Heather’s Letter To Her Mother into existence.
It might be a rare factor in life to be inspired by the plant Titan Arum, a patient bloom which takes eight years to come into its most natural beauty, and yet a Titan can spawn a Titan, for the North Carolina raised performer has seen the end result of her creative start, from the initial Wonderbloom E.P., through to the release of this new album, and given the listener the thrill they deserve. A strong and vibrant beginning, the wonder of the bloom is on show for all to witness.
Becca Stevens releases Wonderbloom on March 20th
Ian D. Hall