BENNETT WILSON POOLE : I SAW A STAR BEHIND YOUR EYES, DON'T LET IT DIE AWAY

BENNETT WILSON POOLE : I SAW A STAR BEHIND YOUR EYES, DON'T LET IT DIE AWAY

I Saw Love
Waiting for the Wave to Break
I Wanna Love You (But I Can't Right Now)
Help Me See My Way
Cry at the Movies
Ready to Serve
Yvonne
Heart Songs
Tie-Dye T-Shirt
The Sea and the Shore

Label : BWP Records

Length : 38:12

Release Date : March 31, 2023

Review (Americana UK) : From humble beginnings as a one off collaborative effort between three very talented musicians, Bennett Wilson Poole grew legs from the start. The eponymous debut album was universally acclaimed (achieving “classic” status after only five years) and this was followed by a succession of live shows. …Buoyed by this success, the trio, (Robin Bennett from Goldrush/Dreaming Spires, Danny Wilson from Grand Drive / Danny & The Champions of the World and Tony Poole from Starry Eyed & Laughing – just in case you’ve been living on Mars for the past few years) decided to embark on a second album with Bennett and Wilson finding their songwriting juices in full flow while on the road. With studio maestro Poole at the helm they recorded the songs for I Saw a Star Behind Your… 91 MB 320 ** FLAC …Eyes, Don’t Let It Die Away in 2020, just as the pandemic hit. As on the first album, Poole plays many of the instruments but on several songs the trio are bolstered by the inclusion of their live rhythm section, Joe Bennett and Fin Kenny. While the first album drank deep from the well of early ’70s LA harmony rock (especially that of CSN&Y), ‘I Saw a Star Behind Your Eyes, Don’t Let It Die Away’ is clearly inspired by an earlier era, that of the early Beatles sound and the nascent buds of UK psychedelia while still retaining an element of west coast rock, in particular, the Clarence White line up of The Byrds. America, the country, its absurdities, its aspirations, its culture, retains its hold on these three quintessentially English chaps, most evident on the litany of characters referenced in the stunning ‘I Wanna Love You (But I Can’t Right Now)’, a song which rings out with disdain for Trumpism. A hazy Byrds’ like drone, punctuated by freak beat guitar breaks and billowing solos from Poole, the song is a triumph (and the accompanying video brilliantly emphasises the trio’s message). The album opens with the Merseybeat chimes of ‘I Saw Love’ with our three honorary moptops avoiding any sense of being a Rutles’ like pastiche, especially when Poole lays down an exquisite solo on his Telecaster Stringbender. There’s also more than a whiff of the Liverpudlians in the fluid guitar riffs of ‘Ready to Serve’ but it’s the harmonies here which are quite astonishing, the three voices gliding clear of the instruments for a few gorgeous moments mid-song, while the lyrics again serve as a reminder not to blindly follow populist leaders. The crux of this plea to think for oneself is concentrated within the gossamer-like ‘Help Me See My Way’ where Robin Bennett sings beautifully and the band are luminescent as the song flows, oh so sweetly, ending in a lovely guitar nod to Wooden Ships. All the songs here tumble out quite wonderfully, fully formed and full of love for the most part. ‘Waiting for the Waves To Break’ is BWP coming across like The Travelling Wilburys with all three taking turns on vocals while riding on a grand Beatles/Wilburys like melody. ‘Cry at the Movies’ finds Wilson’s character bemoaning the demise the silver screen as the trio play a Beatles/Byrds/Bakerfield sound backing. He’s more savage when he sings about daytime TV makeover shows on ‘Tie-Dye T-Shirt’, a song which might owe just a little bit too much to a certain Who number at times but one which would probably go down a storm live, partly due to that Who element but mainly due to its sheer drive, the closing harmonies and Poole’s inspired Rickenbacker, spiralling towards the end. ‘Heartsongs’ is the yin to the opening number’s Merseybeat yan. It’s suffused with the bucolic charms of latter-day Beatles circa ‘The White Album’. The album closes on a powerful note as Robin Bennett, on piano and vocals, leads the trio into the heartfelt and moving ‘The Sea and the Shore’. Singing, “I cannot subscribe to the views of the man wearing union jack shoes, the grinning faces of hate who smile as they’re closing the gate,” there’s no disguising that Bennett Wilson Poole are still fired with the indignation which first ignited within them when they wrote ‘Hate Won’t Win’. The fact that they are able to create beauty from such raw material is testament to their humanity and their talent and, by channelling that wave of optimism which fuelled much the 60s counterculture, they ultimately remind all of us that “Love may not be ALL you need, but it’s absolutely the basis for everything.”

Review (Piccadilly Records) : Nearly five years on from their acclaimed debut, Bennett Wilson Poole reveal the follow up. It's been a long time coming, but... That eponymous first album was only ever intended as a one-off collaborative project — a serendipitous series of events which began with a late evening session where the trio wrote ‘Hate Won't Win’. A response to the murder of MP Jo Cox, it was something of a fresh take on Crosby Stills Nash and Young’s classic protest song ‘Ohio’. The release saw Bennett Wilson Poole embraced by the Americana community, playing live on the Andrew Marr show and crowned as ‘UK Artist of the Year’ at the 2019 UK Americana Awards, in front of a watching crowd including Graham Nash himself. The new album came together in similar fashion; Robin (Bennett) and Danny (Wilson) started writing new songs late into the night whilst on tour to promote the first record — a tour which unfolded from a three-night residency in a London pub into a year-long odyssey culminating in a headline show in Hall One at King’s Place — and before they knew it, there were enough songs to begin recording an unplanned second album. Where the first record drank deep from 70s US west coast folk-rock, the second has been heavily spiked with 1960s British psychedelia, even featuring a cover by legendary counterculture artist John Hurford (whose credits include 60s artwork for Oz Magazine and International Times).* Tony Poole’s meticulous and inspired production has spun Robin and Danny’s fresh batch of songs into a delicate web of musical delight. Fans of the ‘spot the reference’ game Tony started on the first record won’t be disappointed this time either, as there are plenty more to be found here. As with the first album, the lyrics don’t shy away from current affairs – by the end of that year of touring, the band were already playing “I Wanna Love You (But I Can’t Right Now)”, reflecting on the state of US politics, yet optimistic that the problems are only temporary. Many of the tracks on the new album feature live rhythm section Fin Kenny (drums) and Joe Bennett (bass) for the first time on a BWP record. The title of the album comes from the lyrics of ‘Help Me See My Way’, the first single, a prayer for strength in difficult times, the trippy animated video for which was originally issued during lockdown. The dreamy positivity of the line "I saw a star behind your eyes" is tempered with the plea "don't let it die away", a message which feels as important as ever two years on. All three collaborators have had critical acclaim in their own right. Danny Wilson’s credentials go back to his days in Grand Drive with brother Julian, and his consistent high calibre output with his Champions of the World led them to sweeping the board at the first UK Americana Awards with Album, Artist and Song of the year awards richly deserved; Tony Poole’s Starry Eyed and Laughing were hailed as “the English Byrds” on the back of their two CBS-released albums in the mid-seventies and he has since built an enviable reputation as producer and engineer; Robin Bennett has been relentlessly turning out timeless songs from his Oxfordshire base in bands from Goldrush to The Dreaming Spires.