Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
It is recommended that we read a book twice in our lifetimes, once when we are young, maybe innocent, narrower minded, the next time when we are older, not necessarily more mature, but certainly of an age when age and time have combined to teach us the valuable lessons. The reason is simple, we see the way in which the words are written as an extension of ourselves, we inhabit our youth with an expectation of honest intention, only to find when have reached an age where life has more than taken its fair share of naivety and pulse that we see the story in a completely different way; that there is more depth that we didn’t encounter initially.
The Key to life is the same as a book; we must revisit certain moments, various chapters of our existence, all the pros and moments of disaster with a sense of recognition, but to also ask ourselves how we would alter the decision taken at the time and reflect on how we would alter the sound of apology or acceptance if not the narrative.
Rarely though does Time offer such a moment, it is often not in history’s mind to see us relive past glories and achievements, only gifting us regret as we envisage the pain. The key to such chances is to ignore Time’s myopic senses and be willing to search them out yourself, and it is one to which the illustrious Alison Moyet has taken with both hands and set herself the task of seeing how her previous hits and favourites from her long career would sound now, of they hold fascination even after in some cases forty years.
In Key, the latest album from Alison Moyet, the past is ready to be explored once again, the desert sands have been blown clear and the rising temples and underground caverns have become visible, the evaluation of will in the past is studied, catalogued and revealed in the sensational voice of a woman who has imposed herself on the nation’s conscious with faith and honest application of spirit.
From various albums such as the superb Alf, The Minutes, Raindancing, Jollifaction, and two previously unreleased songs, Alison Moyet once more displays an ear and a voice that is hauntingly beautiful and a stance that is forever ambitiously cool.
Opening the processional proceedings in this re-imagination and subtle reworking of classic tracks from her career sees Where Hides Sleep and All Cried Out from the seminal debut release of Alf, All Signs Of Life, Filigree, Is This Love, My Best Day, Tongue Tied, World Without End, You Don’t Have To Go, and the outstanding Love Resurrection, as well as the two unreleased songs of Such Small Ale and The Impervious Me, this is Alison Moyet at her most harmonious, her most alluring, and the moment that the music hits is epic in its grandeur.
A phenomenal achievement, how many artists have the strength of character to revisit their work and make them even finer, even more dynamically impressive? For Ms. Moyet it is a wonder of evaluation and evolution, and the result is excellent. Ian D. Hall