Wendy James
The Shape Of History
The Wendy James Label/Proper Music
Coming across as a self-reflective and yes, self loving work βThe Shape Of Historyβ in a way is an audio autobiography of the Wendy James story so far. Each song is beautifully crafted with an uplifting air. Four tracks in and you might be forgiven for thinking itβs going to all be a bit flowery and jazzy but then βThe Crack And The Boom Of The Creeps And The Goonsβ takes a much more punky detour. This is an artist with a huge diversity and range of styles after all. And so we continue with twists and turns, all the time with Jamesβ vocals shining with passion and maturity. That twenty something force of nature that took the charts by storm in the eighties is is still in there, you can hear it most prominently on the rockers, the quality though shines throughout. The writing is notably strong and the overall musicianship is top tier too. Using all her experience Wendy James has once again delivered on her tenth album. On this evidence thereβs no reason why she shouldnβt continue to produce fine music well into the future.
Review by Gary Trueman