Live Review: Megan Dixon Hood, The Deaf Institute Manchester, 28th Oct 2021

Wow. It feels like a lifetime since I sat down to write a review of some genuine, real life, live music. Hopefully I still remember how! Hopping on the train to a different city, gathering in a venue with actual people, that buzz of anticipation that ripples through the crowd as the artists take to the stage – experiencing it all again after nearly two years apart is a strange sensation. In some ways it felt alien compared to this odd new normality we’ve become all accustomed to, but after a while it felt like stepping back into your old shoes like things had never changed. I guess when live music charms your heart that feeling never really goes away. Fingers crossed though that theory need never be put to the test again, and that this marks the triumphant return of live music in our lives. Where better to get reacquainted with the glory of gigs than the heart of Manchester, and surely there’s no better artist to jump back in with than one of the last performers I saw before everything kicked off – the wonderful Megan Dixon Hood. Continue reading

Top Ten Videos of 2020

With the outdoors being basically out of bounds for much of the past year, we’ve all spent even more time staring at screens than normal. A fair chunk of my own viewing time has been consumed by some of this year’s most stunning music videos. There have been plenty of moving, inventive and even downright iconic visuals to marvel at in 2020. Our list season continues as we delve into the videos that most captured our attention and imagination this past year: Continue reading

Top Tracks: Rebekah Fitch – Dust

Much of what I do revolves around finding the right words, but sometimes my job is made impossible by those words simply not existing. To my knowledge there’s no word to describe a perfect unison of music and visuals. No handy expression to convey just how a great music video can elevate a song, and how a stunning song can in turn add another level of storytelling to the visuals. If such a word existed it would apply perfectly to ‘Dust’, the new single from Irish alt-pop artist Rebekah Fitch. Lyrically it deals with the heartbreak that comes with losing someone you never thought you’d lose. The sorrow that hits like a bolt from the blue when they’re suddenly not around, off living their life without you. The memories of the time you shared together marred by loss, the future that you dreamt of crumbling away before your eyes. If such a message wasn’t already enough to tug at your heartstrings, the track is paired with one of the most arresting and emotionally devastating videos of the year, depicting an elderly couple struggling with separation after many years together. Between the incredibly moving video, earnest lyricism and Rebekah’s stunning soaring vocals, ‘Dust’ is the kind of track that just tears out your heart and still has you pleading for more.