The second album as part of Griffiths-Moore’s deal with the Atlanta-based Susanne Marcus Collins Foundation, again recorded at Abbey Road it’s an all acoustic set featuring guitars, double bass, mandolin and piano. Airily sung, Where Are We Heading opens with ‘Picture House’, the lyrics alternately having talking about a crowd quieting to see a film and the singer sitting on the shoreline “thinking ‘bout the good time”, the song essentially about a relationship ending (“you’re pulling away”) with the movie something of a metaphor.
A softly fingerpicked number, ‘Since When’ takes on a socio-political commentary about turbulent times and environmental concerns as she sings “we’re taking more than we’re giving, drowning silence with noise” asking “since when is the world not enough?”, referencing “the Grenfell tower of guilt” and of feeling impotent to bring about change (“I want to help everyone in need, but I can only give so much”).
Reaching out informs the sparse, pulsing strum of ‘Help’ (“I am here to find the words you’re calling”), offering love to those in distress, while the more uptempo, folksier ‘So Divine’ also speaks of connection (“you’re on my mind, you’re so divine and intertwined, I realise that you’re inside of me”), thoughts of Sally Oldfield swirling around the delivery.
These themes spin throughout the album, ‘If You Couldn’t Lie’ offering the belief that the truth is good for us and “we can handle it”, the jazzy folk ‘You And I’ looking to work together to change the world for the better, and the Joni-tinted ‘You Picked Me Up’ more about personal salvation (“you weren’t ashamed of my condition, you said everybody sometimes need a hand…now I know/hat I’m not here to be anyone but me”).
There’s more of a Celtic feel to ‘We’re Still Here’, her voice soaring on a song about opening yourself up and not being afraid to reach out to supportive others when you’re in need. While that’s the last of the Abbey Road tracks, there’s three bonus numbers recorded at Field Gate Studios in Cardiff, ‘Air’ again about how we’re connected (“what gives you the right to say you don’t need to care”), the briskly picked, melodically tumbling ‘Let In The Light’ about keeping “those treasured people near” and not to “waste time with those who don’t know who you are” and, finally, the steady strummed, Baez-tinged eco-themed title track which, with its classical guitar break, asks simply “Why don’t we try just to change our direction/The path is wrong don’t be afraid to reject it” because “the city’s burning down, motorways are jammed. And they’re spying on our every conversation”.
Where is she heading? Ever upwards.
Mike Davies
Artist’s website: www.saskiagm.co.uk
‘For You’ – live at Abbey Road:
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