Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
The prospect of union is always exciting, it proves that we can combine with another to realise a dream that could take place anywhere from a studio in South Wales, to a plush apartment that overlooks the Hudson Bay, and to the soul and folk gathering place of a Sheffield Park with little distraction and a mountain of energy urging us onwards.
That is the point of combining forces of wot and candour, of like with like, and with the sheer industry that sometimes comes with opposing sides; for even those armies of declared intent gather together, the world can still find harmony in their unlikely connection.
Unlikely is not the case with the linking of arms of George Sansome and Matt Quinn as they release the scintillating and harmonious sound of guitar and mandolin, and with a voice that speaks of expressions of joy, melancholy, love, and abandonment, the listener is left with a pang of heartfelt delight that echoes and soars as if tethered to the most robust of dirigibles and taken on a journey that captivates and seizes the most of the musical opportunity that comes their way.
Across traditional tracks and songs such as the fantastic album opener, Tyne Of Harrow, the iconic subverting of narrative in I Once Loved A Boy, The Fox And The Grey Goose, I Live Not Where I Love, the excellent adaption of My Son In Americkay, and The Death Of Andrew, George Sansome and Matt Quinn’s attachment and bond is more than satisfying, it is an exploration of contentment wrapped in the bubble of stimulating, rousing belief.
Sheffield Park is an album of enormous joy. To hear a duo perform in such a way, and especially in the initial throws of first meetings, is a glorious affair of heart and spirit being held aloft and giving assurance to the listener that all is well with the world. A defiance against the humdrum and expected, George Sansome & Matt Quinn have touched the soul of beauty and have not walked away from its path.
George Sansome & Matt Quinn release Sheffield Park on April 28th via Grimdon Records.
Ian D. Hall