Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The authority of the human heart and mind must forever hold sway and opinion in all things against the growing strain of artificial intelligence, the Dominion Of Spells, the word, the influence of art that comes from enchantment and incantation alike, are to be seen as sacrosanct, fiercely embedded in truth and one that comes from the belief of the stroke of fortune that we are able to breath life into the armour of collected tales and those that weave a narrative together.
Dominion Of Spells is the brand-new album from Emily Portman, and whilst it might be her first studio recording in a decade, it nonetheless is one not of soft temptation and joyous extolling of return, it is a dramatic response to a technological evil that many have embraced, and one that defends the right for a human voice and its innate imagination to always hold court in the hearts of all and one that must damn anything that uses artificial intelligence to bewilder, fool, and damage others.
The case to which Ms. Portman curses caused that type of harm in 2025, the sense of injustice is at the heart of the beauty created in the new album, the songs, the harmony, the relationship between human expression and musical conjuring has never been more important, and more assertive.
Across tracks such as Flowerface, Weary Spell, Dreamless Sleep, Three Magic Notes, and the album title track of Dominion Of Spells, the magical spark of human integrity is paramount, each track capturing the essence of humanity in its most glorious, most celebrated.
The album utilises with sincerity and passion the brilliance of Martin Simpson, Lucy Farrell, Mary Hampton, Louis Campbell, Lucy Revis, Ben Nicholls, Sam Sweeney, Helen Bell, Neil McSweeney, and Will Schrimshaw with extreme care and insight, their collective talent underlining the insistence of Ms. Portman that the album digs deep into what it means to be a human collaboration, a union of souls rather than technological screams and the ferocity of digits.
This vibrant illustration of ballads and the exploration of folktales, the intuition of transforming old illusions and male delusions of the female body, heart and mind is a reveal of many truths, and a mediation of what it means to be human, and once again shows just how much the wider audience needs to be involved in the process of listening, of insisting that nothing must come between humanity and the honest creative process
Emily Portman deserves upmost credit for her courage in her own process of illumination, and in the Dominion Of Spells that resolution to right many wrongs stands out as deeply emotional and absolutely authentic.
Ian D. Hall