The Arousing

Track listing -

The Arousing, Part 1 - Ah Jole - 51 Years - All Night Forever - I Wonder -
Red Badge Of Courage - Un Soir Au Cafe Du Chat Noir - Think About It -
Number 49 - Billy - Free At Last - Painting Blue Soldiers - The Arousing

The 12 songs on The Arousing represent the compelling realisation of possibilities only hinted at on past releases. There is deep abiding passion here, in the desolate desert sorrow of 51 Years, for instance, and the perfectly articulated grunt, as in the barn-storming Billy. Simpson weeps, Simpson aches, Simpson snarls in the bitter pain of loss. Simpson doesn't mess with your head, she messes with your soul and never lets you go.

When Simpson, caught up in the emotion of one of her songs, lets loose, you never forget the experience. Her voice soars and cries, seemingly too strong an instrument to come from her frame. Like all truly memorable vocalists, she seems to pull her energy from the earth beneath her.