Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Time was when the unexpected was truly one of mystery, the impending release that wasn’t covered in fanfare or immediate elaboration by the music press. The sniff of a single being the solitary clue to the direction of the album, The Space Between flourish and reveal being one of magic expanse and how your day would filter and mould around this new presence between hours, between waking moments.
Bonfire Radicals not only set the scene on the surprise and unexpected for their new album, they absolutely frame it, they own it with fierce intelligence and musical prowess, and as they do so, so the intensity of their flames, the mixture of their untraditional stance takes effect, and The Space Between they reach out to the listener with a dynamic that wouldn’t have gone amiss in the days when The Rainbow in Digbeth was all the rage for poetry and music.
There is no call for a celebration, but that is what the listener will receive, a gilt-edged invitation for a boisterous time of heightened creativity and wonder.
Between moments, between expressions and the addition to the Birmingham dynasty of music, tracks such as Satsuma Moon, The Man From Suburbia, Coffee Countdown, and the exquisite expressive and sensitive topic of Mary Ashford, the players of this dynamic sound, part 21st Century Vaudeville, part drama for the big screen, resolutely and fantastically cover themselves in glory and pleasure of performance.
For Katie Stevens, Michelle Holloway, Sarah Farmer, Emma Reading, Llias Lintzos, and Pete Churchill, this second album is one that highlights the diversity of the Birmingham sound, and whilst many will always associate the area with bands such as Duran Duran, Dexy’s Midnight Runners, Ocean Colour Scene, and UB40, so it is to be sure that groups with passion, that hold in their heart something a little extra in their outlook, will break through and add concrete layers to the already dominate landscape.
A sublimely exotic album, full of gears, of shifts, of drama, of joy; The Space Between is full, it is overflowing with creative craft and wonder, and yet, for the listener, there will always be more to eagerly await.
Bonfire Radicals release The Space Between on September 30th.
Ian D. Hall