Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
There are many ways in which a song can be presented so that the listener feels the depth of emotions that are required to survive, to feel wanted in today’s often cynical world, to thrive despite the background chatter that gets under the skin and leaves a footprint of distrust and ill temper indelibly marked on the skin.
However, it should always be a two-way conversation that can make others of less empathic nature believe that it comes down to stroking and the inflating of the ego but is in fact the act of Grounded individuals marking time in mutual consent and one which can impar wisdom, which can offer a sense of healing, of therapy and recovery.
It is perhaps in the hands of troubadour rather than the poet that the words come easier, the sense of selflessness and level-headed approach, rather than the grandiose and abstract, that calms the nerves and finds the perfect place in which to put the emotional troubles down, to unpack slowly, methodically, and create order. To be in the company of such no-nonsense but disciplined spirit is to be in the presence of greatness, in the dignity of the labour that pushes us to understand life and distance ourselves from hate, pride,
As part of his Digressions series, John Blek returns with a simmering set of music, which is poetry in itself; but one accompanied by the beauty of delivery. His music is a conduit to the expression to which deviation in a tale can provide endless fascination and the sense of the remarkable curiosity. For the troubadour that travels is that which can weave a spell of vocal illumination, can make the minute introspection of valuable insight, and this is exactly the right result produced by John Blek in Digressions #2 -Grounded.
Through tracks such as the opening aural delight of Summer’s Delight, Like A Child, Into The Morning, Thin Air and My Father’s Son, John Blek prises open the box of attentive listening with delicate gloves and proceeds to show the world just what can come from a pure heart and a curious mind.
A set of songs sculptured from the rock of the Earth, polished, cared for and placed on display for all to witness, Digressions #2 – Grounded is an album of necessity in such times that we are facing.
John Blek releases Digressions #2 – Grounded on February 19th via We Are Rats Recordings.
Ian D. Hall