Visions of Albion know a thing or two about the past. Their sound is firmly rooted in bygone eras, taking in elements of classic folk as well as gospel, blues and psychedelia. Along with acts like Motel Sundown, they’re part of a larger movement of Liverpool musicans in love with Laurel Canyon, recreating Americana music through a Mersey lens. But with latest single In The Past, they warn against getting too hung up on days gone by.
Made up of Sam Shields and Daniel Ryan, the band have already travelled a long road – after meeting at college in 2012, they first found a spiritual home at local open mic nights, putting out their first EP nine years later. These days, they’ve progressed to bigger stages, and have performed classic Fairport Convention, Carole King and Neil Young albums in full to spellbound Philharmonic audiences, as well as regularly playing their own material at venues across the city.
Longtime fans may already be acquainted with In The Past, which took its first tentative steps back in 2021. It finds Shields in contemplative mode, looking back on a summer with various shades of regret. Her voice is especially powerful here, laced with hard-won wisdom; rich and sumptuous one moment, then slipping into a note of resignation the next. There are supple harmonies cradled among fingerpicked melodies and shimmering textures from the analogue instruments the band have worked so carefully into their sound.
With such a strong shared history and musical language, Visions of Albion can allow tracks like In The Past time to breathe and grow more nuanced, channeling the warmth and energy of the duo’s stage sound rather than the clinical precision of a mixing desk. This is the sound of two musicians completely attuned to one another, who are happy to let a song take five years to ripen if that’s what it needs, understanding that with the passage of time comes deeper understanding.
After all, it’s tempting to try to cling onto summer days, grasping for one last Aperol as the darker evenings close in. But with In The Past, Visions of Albion remind us that there comes a time to make peace with unfinished business, to fold the picnic blanket back into a drawer and move on. Nostalgia will only get you so far, and this is a band looking decisively ahead, who are putting the finishing touches on their long-awaited debut album as we speak.
Stream Vision of Albion’s In The Past now.
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