Firstly, and before I get into language that reaffirms the subject, apologies for what seems an overblown heading, but it really was something special for me.
I've listened and been moved by Suzanne's music for around 20 years now (my first experience to her music being as a 14 year old boy), and she has managed to be the only artist that I have carried with me throughout my life.
As the direction of my life has changed, so has the music of Suzanne, and on hearing the last two records - Nine Objects of Desire and Songs of Red & Grey, I really felt I was losing the connection with music that had almost provided a soundtrack to my life.
Both records had provided moments that had moved me, but as a whole had failed to prick and pull at my core as effortlessly as previous records.
As the years have passed I had felt a sadness at what seemed to be the slow and intransigent loss of relevance, of music that had been a part of my life for such a long time. This has happened with other things in my life and in the few cases where these feelings have meant enough to be considered, they have ebbed away over the years almost without a fight.
Because of this Beauty and Crime was an important record for me and its songs have filled the hole left by previous albums. Songs such as Ludlow Street and Zephyr & I have permeated the day to day, and made it a richer and even more thought provoking place.
It was with this comfortable baggage that myself and my partner (sans baggage) attended the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on the 30th of June, and without subjecting you to an adolescently enthusiastic fan review, I’ll say thank you to Suzanne for giving me (and us all of course) music whose relevance impinges across our emotions, and can wet the dry eyes of a northern lad (Small blue thing was the tipping point).
Before I cut this self indulgent thread (there I go again), I wanted to share a thought that the concert made for me. I was thinking about the outlet that song writing must provide for Suzanne, and what an effective conduit it must be for realising tensions (good or bad) that we all feel. As I was thinking about this I was considering the day to day stimulus that give birth to these songs, which Suzanne is so good at conveying to her audiences, and the fact that we all experience these.
As my train of thought passed through a whole region of run down stations, it made me think - how do I channel these emotions in a creative way. I work in PR and whilst creative, it’s not always the ideal route for conveying my thoughts on the strength of clarity of language in personality, for example.
The circle was squared when I considered the evening of the 30th in Liverpool, in that the songs and emotion of Suzanne were honest, without affectation and had an admirable shape and solidity – something I realised I try to achieve in most areas of my life, and the very thing that musically brought about the reawakening of that 14 year old boy in this 34 year old man.
Many thanks Suzanne - Jason