Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
All that never was alludes us, not because it hasn’t been acknowledged, but because it has been carefully constructed so it might allude us, never making itself clear until we are ready to have our souls rocked by the revelation and the passion that strides into our lives with confidence and no illusion.
Renown for the skill as a producer, it should come as no surprise that the mind of Fran Ashcroft, an admirer of Liverpool’s Brian Bordello rampant and lo-fi pleasures, is indeed willing to turn their eye to being in front of the recordings, and as The Songs That Never Were bring a huge smile and massive injection of admiration to the cannon of work; and indeed as the album opens, the listener understands instinctively that a unearthed treasure is about to be unleashed at the turn of a golden key.
Defying time is an artist’s prerogative, and one not exclusively in the domain who speak the words or place the brush upon the awaiting canvas, but those to whom also find the drama of being perhaps seen as behind the extraordinary, whispering crucial encouragement, taking notes, recording every detail so that nothing is lost from the engagement; and by doing so can, and will produce a piece of magic that is clean, original, outrageously cool.
Described as a sonic bridge between eras, Fran Ashcroft’s own Punk-lo fi glory walks in confidently into the saloon of expression and takes stock of the cards being thrown in the table, their wit and guile knowing they are bound to score winnings from hands unused to holding Time.
The treasure trove, the winning hand, is to be found in absolute gregarious form as tracks such as the opener Waiting For The Britpop Revival, in pieces of fused enthusiasm in Suddenly, Cabdriver, and Strange Things, and through the impassioned A.I. groove of Greater Of The Evils, Compass, and the grin worthy echo that finalises the album in Still Waiting For The Britpop Revival, is there waiting to be explored, and it is one that requires no map, just trust in the process of illumination.
Fran Ashcroft isn’t just the one with the key to the chest of treasure or holding the winning hand at the table, they are the one to whom we find resplendent in the treasure trove and the one dealing those aces and kings. Quite simply superb.
Fran Ashcroft releases The Songs That Never Were on February 23rd.
Ian D. Hall