Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The truth is not always honest, it can be a variation of whatever the beholder and speaker feel in the passing is relevant, ideal, and more believable; this is the world in the 21st Century operates…not in black and white terms, but in shades of opinion, and rarely does it capture the truth of existence.
It is then to the artist to apply a letter of stringent authenticity, of offering trust in their vision, and never wavering from certainty, and into this world of music direction, of genuine reaction to the art of recreation and subtle revisiting haunts, words, and times to which Bluenose B, otherwise known as Stephen Lawson, reveals that Truth Is King absolutely.
From American Gigolo to the realms of addition, of pushing a narrative down perhaps a different road, none the less still straight and true, but one that offers arguably a different balance, a changed perspective to which old shoes are no longer able to carry the soul of understanding and into which, with age and grace are lifted to a higher point of reveal; that is the synergy and dynamic to which Mr. Lawson shows that past creations can be blessed with subtle inspiration, and with a new track, the highlighted renaming of Truth Is King, authenticity is not only guaranteed, it is essential.
With the addition of Light Diminished, a track left off the original album, and a single version of She’ll Do For Me which brings the album to a close, what transpires is genuine appreciation for what was once as a fourpiece and now acknowledged for the writer as closer to the original spirit intended; a version of the truth, or a response to the valid and faithful without borders.
With tracks such as In The Evening, Stay With Me, Hey Marianne, Gunslinger, and the aforementioned American Gigolo all resurfacing for a new period to which world leaders practice self-delusion and artists finding ways to bring them down blocked by threats and imagined consequences, such is the memory of these classics and their modernised reach, that the proof of resilience holds firm and trustworthy in the hands of Bluenose B.
Ian D. Hall