Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
We need others to be around us to keep our minds balanced, to keep pushing our creativity in such a way that what comes forth is more than just a sign of language, it is belief and hope that the ghosts of our minds will take corporeal form and leave a lasting trace of humanity in our souls.
However, in times of isolation, of universal adversity, the Muse will arrive with ideas in tow, comfort the heart, and see that the artist, despite being on their own, and bestow upon them the beautiful and shimmering impressions, the presence of unknown spirits, and because of that whisper in the darkness, the light that shines in to the soul of the solo pursuit, what arrives can be the resolution for the human heart; either acceptance, or new love, emerges with the Muse as the conductor.
A Broken Heart (For Cynthia) is the latest, and simply prestigious, E.P. from one of Merseyside’s favourite musicians, and whilst the global pandemic that has scoured the arts in the last year robbed Barry Jones of being able to work with the superb Ronnie Clark, as both men have had to isolate, it hasn’t stopped the mind of the artist from working in such a fashion that the ghosts, the images and the Muse have been left for themselves, and as the four strong song E.P shows with great humour, with passion, and of love for the principal character in the show, Cynthia Lennon, a broken heart will always still love, and in the same way, distance and isolation will only hopefully prove that we will eventually meet again, and when we do the creative high will be astonishing.
Whether we collaborate with another human being, or we co-operate with the Muse, songs such as Lost Resort, Nancy, The Woolton Fox (Strawberry Lane), and the E.P. title track, A Broken Heart (For Cynthia) show that the meaning behind our craft never diminishes, that a heart merely misses a beat in Time, it never stops being intact, and holding beauty in place, only waiting for the right song to come its way.
A Broken Heart (For Cynthia) is a tremendous set of songs by one of Merseyside’s finest, tremendously observed, insightful, unwavering in their search for immortality.
Ian D. Hall