Artist – Shadow Captain
Single – Home Is The Hero
Release date – 2nd December 2022
Reviewer – Ian D Hall
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating:
“Unhappy the land that is in need of heroes”, the point taken, understood and arguably looked upon as a template of emotional sacrifice that we must share equally as we look to those who give their all so that others may live to fight another day.
It is a sacrifice intended to make the survivor feel indebted to the idea that heroism is an artifice, that by having heroes entails a sense of wretched idealism, and yet it is more about the loss, a surrender to grief, for what is grief, but a love never forgotten, a love that bravely withstands the winds of snide and malicious intent to do the soul of the bereft harm.
Home is the Hero, for in that brief exclamation stands honour and truth, never scorn the country that needs a hero, for it might be the last remaining hope they have of survival, the rallying point in which to fight back against the fascists who terrorise their people, who will think nothing of invasion, who will spread fear via weapons of war…home is the hero of any substance, be it personal, be it physical, be it a representation of a belief, and one that is always framed in song with even temperament and a giant heart.
Liverpool’s Shadow Captain knows the effect of cheering home a hero, how could he not being part of a city that sees and respects those that have fought against the tyranny of others, and in his usual style which encompasses insight, a definite feeling of pinpointing accuracy in the heat of a charming tune, and fierce heartfelt anger wrapped up in the arms of other’s cowardice; such is Home is the Hero and its’s effect that this song leaves the listener caught between love and respect, and wanting to unfurl a banner in his, and other’s names who utilise art to stir up courage in the weary.
Shadow Captain, the ever-flavoursome Stuart Todd, regales once more the simplicity of what the listener hears and the complex undertone to which he is one of the leading exponents of. Dig so deep that you hit belief and courage, for art, in all its forms is the reveal of what spurs you on, and as ever Shadow Captain exemplifies this perfectly.
Review © 2022 Ian D Hall for Liverpool Acoustic, originally published at Liverpool Sound and Vision.
Home Is The Hero is on the new album Artifacts being launched at Prohibition Recording Studios on the night of Friday 2nd December. Doors open at 7.00pm for a 7.30pm start. Tickets are £8 (including booking fee) from Prohibition. Support is from Only Child.
Artifacts is available from Bandcamp