Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

We see connections every day of our lives, but we might not actually realise we are doing so until someone else takes the time to hold our heart and keep our minds enthralled long enough to show us that the pieces have been in place for so long that the physical synaptic fires have only to respond in a certain way and the edifice of control, of subterfuge and lies can come crashing down around the ears of those who seek to damage the ordinary person’s will and peace.

It is too easy to declare that Only Child’s Alan O’Hare has penned some of the most unforgettable songs of the last decade, but then a poet’s heart, for which he obviously possesses, is one who can make sense of the world we live in, and see how to straighten out those curves, the Spaghetti Junction like arcs and unrelenting twists and coils that mess with the mind of many of us, and by doing by doing so, takes us a journey where we can see where it all went wrong and how, because it is not too late to help untie, or even sever, the Gordian Knot to which we have become accustomed and subservient to.

That poetic beat is absolutely evident in Only Child’s latest offering to the public. Straight Lines conjure up images of the direct route between A and B, of the inspirations that have guided subsequent artist down the years and through to the present day, the moment in which Liverpool and the rest of the world, whilst divided by politics and the sheer unending persecution of each other, can come together in unison and applaud those who give their life to entertain and inform through the power of song and vision.

It is vision that guides Straight Lines, it is the moment that perhaps fans and supporters of Mr. O’ Hare have been chomping at the bit for, knowing for certain that it was coming thanks to all the pleasure taken from hearing his steadily growing back catalogue over the years, the certainty of a song so good, so understandably brilliant that it stands head and shoulders with Liverpool’s finest musicians’ work.

A tremendous track, one worthy of being the lead in song to the forthcoming new album.

Ian D. Hall