Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
In the Fields Of Redemption, the grass will always be greener, the soul will be lighter, and the mind will be free of all that vexes it, for in delivering salvation to one’s own psyche, by offering a reclaiming of one’s past and not allowing it to define you, we find the liberation to explore a future which is clear and unhindered.
Introspection is an act of self-care, and it can lead to art that is momentous, fierce, truthful, and cunning, and as Joe Hodgson investigates the influences and the searching soul in his latest album, Fields Of Redemption, the blended authority of rock, blues, jazz, country and Irish traditional music all combine to ensure that there is no album around today that matches the intensity, the burning desire on show that utilises so many genres in one sitting.
The album itself is expansive, across tracks such as Shapeshifting, the excellent You I Think Of, Giver Her What She Wants, the vocal infused wonder that is Since You Had A Hold On Me, Picking You Apart, Ducking And Diving, and the focused energetic cool of the Ballad Of Joe Clarke, the radiance of its being is declared and witnessed for all that it captures in its blazing trail.
Introspection comes from searching for a peace and reconnection, be it with where you come from, those you have met along the way, the players and extras that matched you stride for stride for a while, or even those who hang back, not quite with you but able to offer a decent moment of perspective as they survey the road ahead form a different vantage point; and Joe Hodgson holds this dearly to his heart, and yet at the same time give the mostly instrumental album a lift, a sense of joy and upbeat serenade that is convincing and full of persuasion.
Emotionally ambitious and fulfilling to its vision, Fields Of Redemption is an epic, it is statuesque and a feeling of pulse that has much in common in everyday life, always a mixture of differing experiences and movements; and one that comes at the listener thick and fast. An album to make sure you do not miss, one that recovers what it means to listen to what makes you think as well as that which leaves you happy.
Joe Hodgson’s Fields Of Redemption is released on June 20th.
Ian D. Hall