Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

When the artist insists that creating a moment is its own reward, you can either believe them and revel in their vision, or you can scoff silently, or with an unbecoming arrogance, and whisper that artists are only are ever in it for the fame, the fortune, and the favour. It is not quite the argument of flat Earth or the footsteps on the moon that seems to divide humanity, but it is one that vexes the purist and the emotionally satisfied find perplexing to deal with, for how can art be anything other than commercially free and intellectually stimulating.

In one of the finest examples of this truism comes elegantly, with sublime intentions, in the form of Texas based Clay DuBose and his emotionally blended rock, blues and country offering, Father Time & Mother Nature, an album which not only maintains constant contact with the listener’s own vows of transparency and clarity, but places its faith in the hands of those same people and knows it will be presented back with ardour, and most importantly, with respect.

Those two personifications of mortality and the measure of epoch, humanity’s own reservation of seeing beyond its own place but hoping the species outlasts even the final breaths of the planet we call home, are very much at the centre of this compelling album, and one that really underlines just how Clay DuBose can unravel fragility and make it beautiful.

With contributions from Ted Russell Kamp, Danny Timms, John Schreffler, Carl Byron, Sasha Smith, Jamie Douglas, Mitch Marine, Mike Clarke, Eric Corne, Brian Whelen, and with the gorgeous guest vocals from Janiva Magness, the album is an inspired introspective driven by the experimental and speculative turned definite and desirous.

Across tracks such as Winning Streak, Dreams Come Untrue, I Hope You’re Watching, Broken Mirror, and the finale of Scotch & Soda, Clay DuBose delves deeply into the convincing subconscious of the incentive at hand, not one driven by fiscal reward, but a kind of immortality that assures beyond anything that the scythe of Father Time may cut or to which Mother Nature ties to decay, will outlive and be forever celebrated.

Father Time & Mother Nature is a invitation to see beyond the epoch and the period of modern incredulity, and one that works with grace and stirring power.

Ian D. Hall