Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Captivated is the heart when it finds itself focused on a sound that feels as though a door has been opened nearby and the sweet smell of petrichor wafts through on the breeze and leads you to a place where you know the intensity of everyday bombardment has been nullified and that remains is calm and the difference of eased pressure.

Divergence from such a ferocity of existence is not to be just expected, it must be earned, and as the new debut album from Freya Rae, resolves to ease the burden of this second decade’s folly with what amounts to a considerable twinkle in the eye and a foot that won’t stop tapping in time to the beat provided by flute, whistles, and clarinets, so to the listener finds themselves leaving the troubles of presidents, ministers and errant angels behind.

Divergence is the squiggle of momentum as clusters of cool coagulate and build in a variance of tones, as the soul of sound makes war and love to the ongoing progression of steady nonconformity; and all this is made possible across the album by the inclusion of clarsach player Siannie Moodie, Tim Lane on percussion and sansula, and with a flourish the trio set the mood alight, they dig into the reserves of the weary and the near damned exhausted and put a spring in the step that glides across the once grey pavement and leaves sunshine behind.

Across the tracks Alderbank, Owlets, Aye Yew, Willow, Myrtle, Can Xaco, and Beetroot the desire for inclusion against the norm is vital, the non-traditional outlook of the use of instruments is almost delicately intoxicating, and for many this will be a moment of purity, of satisfaction in virtue.

With two added guests, Eryn Rae on fiddle for the song Alderbank and Aye Yew, and the incomparable Fraser Fifield on soprano saxophone on Aye Yew and Beetroot, so the acceptance of generosity in performance is rubber stamped and unfiltered, it becomes a rallying call to others that the big league instruments that everybody always gravitates to is but an act of showmanship and that creating art does not always require the full stage, only humility and sheer presence of heart.

Divergence is not conflict, it is an argument for the inclusion of sound in all its forms, and one that Freya Rae presents with unmistakeable legitimacy.

Ian D. Hall