Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Not so much of a balancing act, but a tightrope walk between the sensuality and freedom of Folk, and the hard edged critical honest afforded to one who has illuminated the so called darkness of punk; and one navigated with belief and cool by Joe Tilston, and all without, it seems, by the use of a safety net, nor a large wooden pole to be found.
Some require the assistance of the tightrope walker’s pole, some juggle during to act to draw attention away from the feet precariously perched, and some see the very nature of funambulism as a metaphor for life, too much weight on one side, too much compromise to the cause and effect of a certain subject, and the whole thing becomes a spectacle of damage limitation.
Joe Tiltson’s Tightrope though is beyond the use of such aids, for what is abundantly clear inside the sleeve, is a procession of hard folk music, not one for the softly gained illusion, this is an album of rebellious fortitude, of not only revealing the truth, but searing the skin of the release, letting it gush out until it is naked and relieved of all its demons.
It is in this almost confessional, enlightening balancing act between hard drama and inventive sincerity, that tracks such as Flowers, Armistice, Evergreen Joe, To Continue Press Start, Mirror Mirror and Eyes On The Road, flow without hesitancy, with precision, hitting the heart with both hands and causing the patient, the out of luck listener who has been prescribed one last important visit from the doctor in which to soothe their soul, to sit up, take notice, and rage alongside the one dancing on the cord of life.
It is fragile twine that keeps belief in the air, one that takes the barest wind to knock the walker astride, but for those who don’t fear looking to the future, who put their belief in the tightrope, the way is navigated with aplomb. For Joe Tilston, it is a Tightrope that is strong, subtle, and with balance perfectly cast.
Joe Tilston releases Tightrope on November 8th via Our Records.
Ian D. Hall