Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Storms gather, it is in the very fabric of existence that we must expect upheaval, but if we weather the storm, if we seize the silver linings on show as the lightning illuminates their positions and meanings to us, then we may find something unexpected, a tale of the unforeseen presented as a gift to us.

I, Claudia’s message in Storms & Silver Linings is one of impressionable intimacy, and for the woman behind the name, Claudia McKenzie, the intricacy of arrangements and vocals beguile the senses for the first time listener and confirm certainties of those who have followed the maker of the self-confessed chaos and essence.

As many have noted I, Claudia only insists on not being labelled, and as the tracks from the album are absorbed by the listener what is evident is that all encompassing directness, holding close different guises of expression as if the performance was a detailed examination of the human psyche, one refusing to give way to a single thread, to be one stalled by the occasion, and gaining entry to the club of talented muses who place their talent in the entire world of art; not just a small part, a tiny step in a complex game of music and emotions.

Across songs such as All You Wanted Was The Sun, The Envy Of Kings, The Elephant & You, Rain Down Hell, and Love Stories, the innate ear of the artist is shown to be demandingly strong, a force ready to be unleashed and without prejudice, but with passion on her side.

There is a lot to enjoy across this unrelenting album, one that is the epitome of graft and consideration to the listener, an exuberance of youth that is the aural version of that human made storm, a tempest under the spell of cyclones and mystic chants given physical emotions form.

Storms & Silver Linings is an expression, it is an articulation of cloudburst with hope at the end of the gale withstood.

Ian D. Hall