Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
We are often trapped by the belief that we must be continually making large strides to be making any impact on the world, that we are noticed and admired by the heart-straining considered effort which eventually destroys the body too quickly, rather than the slow but steady pace of the ones who put one foot tentatively in front of other and who leave a more discernible path for others to follow.
It is in this straight-forward Headway that the path reveals the possibility of understanding the larger picture at play, the uniqueness of your position, and yet one that is tied to capturing the moment and the arrangement, the deal, brokered with Time and circumstance.
In the acceptance of knowledge that not everything in life has to be taken with unfathomably large steps, that the assured and methodical step is apt to create a greater impression on other’s souls and vision, Ariel Posen delivers an album of sheer poise and craft, of growth and vision, and one that pushes past the personal struggle and lifts the listener up with its sense of dynamic persuasion.
Ariel Posen is joined on the album by Julian Bradford, JJ Johnstone, Cody Iwasiuk, Alex Campbell, Bart McKay, Kevin Gastonguay and Paul Yee and throughout tracks such as Coming Back, Did You See It Coming, What Are We Doing Here, I’ll Be Finding You and Sometimes You Lie, the experience of the progress is significant and highly charged, the evolution of the song-writing process and the additional dedicated structure of musicianship, is not only to be savoured, it is to be myopically dissected so that the inner workings and mechanics can be studied by others to come.
The style may be unique, but the thought is of one who has studied relentlessly the passion and skill of those who walked the path before him. For in Headway comes movement and progression, the calmness is observed, but also the relentless nature of the soul to keep chipping away at what is perceived to be a brick wall. No wall is that resilient that it cannot be shaken and brought down, the same as no artist, no matter how many times they have to kick at the foundations and hit the brick work with a bloodied fist, can be denied the fulfilment of getting to the next stage of their comprehension of the process and the joy in delivering their vision.
A superbly arranged album, lyrically well observed, musically fundamentally cool. A head turner away from the also rans, Headway is evolution happening before your eyes.
Ian D. Hall